


Blood, Tears and Sweat (BTS)

by Int0_the_star_fire5



Category: GOT7, 방탄소년단 | Bangtan Boys | BTS
Genre: F/F, F/M, M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-07-30
Updated: 2018-02-24
Packaged: 2018-12-09 01:24:29
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 4
Words: 49,326
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11658705
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Int0_the_star_fire5/pseuds/Int0_the_star_fire5
Summary: BTS finds their entire world turned upside down & reconstructed when one woman enters their lives one savage night. Hunted in a life of flashing lights, screaming fans and chaotic schedules the boys get a crash course in survival and fear for the lives of both themselves and their best friends in the wake of a most unexpected fate.





	1. The Assassin

A/N- It has been quite some time since I last wrote. Some rather unfortunate circumstances entirely natural to the human condition have left me too weepy for comfort. Thankfully, I have had some wicked awesome dreams about my all consuming obsession, the fantastically amazing BTS, that have inspired me to write a fan-fiction dedicated to them. I hope you enjoy it as much as I do. These boys really are my rock in an unfathomably hard place. 

Disclaimer- This fic is strictly for entertainment purposes, inspired by BTS and about them as my mind interprets it. Since none of the events within are even possible I should be good on copyrights. However, this fic will contain graphic violence, vulgar language and explicit sexual scenarios (at some point or another). If you don't like rated MA stuff you shouldn't read this fic.

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I stood staring over the edge of the office building at the white top of the small bus below me. Why had I been contacted for this job in particular? I normally didn't do anything this high profile but this one had caught my attention. I shook my head and glared up at the moon, wondering why I bothered anymore before slipping over the edge and falling four stories to land in an easy crouch on the roof of the bus. I flopped back on my butt and lowered myself slowly until I was lying flat, staring up at the few dim stars fighting to shine through the smog of city lights. I snarled my lip and sighed, taking out my pack of smokes, remembering why I hated the city so much. Unfortunately, it was where I found most of my jobs taking me. I closed my eyes and took a long drag, breathing out slowly and listening. The heavy bass of the song mixed well with the high notes and rap being carried on the screams of the twelve thousand fans inside. 

I could hear the fangirls/fanboys that didn't get to see the concert clamoring outside the wall of gates and security keeping them back from the bus for the chance at a handful of decent pictures. I smiled and shook my head at the hassle of it all and wondered once again why I was here. I passed the time by bopping my head to the music and dancing my fingers over my weapons in anticipation and boredom, grinning when I finally felt the cool chill of them, like an ice cube down the spine, creeping closer. They were much later then I had expected, though much smarter than the last batch too. They crept along the slanted glass roof of the concert hall and I began humming a child-like rhyme of greetings, titles and goodbyes, practicing my Korean before greeting my clients. I felt them coming down the gated alley on both ends and mingle with the hundreds of desperate fans. 

I swore under my breath and rolled over onto my stomach so that I could focus on the people as the last note of the final song sounded from within the concert. I caught the eyes of one of the handful of men among the screaming women and easily implanted the idea to check his phone and start screaming that he just heard this was a decoy bus and that BTS was coming out the other side door. A smart idea, if I do say so myself. His face went lax for a moment as the magic warped his brain and then he dug through his pocket and palmed his phone, the light coming on to display a pair of dark eyes widened with the fire of fanaticism as he lifted his head and shouted what I had told him to say. He took off running after nearly throttling several of his fellow fans and slowly people began to follow him in confusion. I grinned and rolled back over. Too easy. I nearly laughed as I imagined the confusion on the faces of my would-be foes as their cover wandered away. I closed my eyes listening to the backstage clamor of sweaty clothes being peeled away from damp skin, the whir of hairdryers and the blur of rapid Korean from behind the scenes as thousands of fans filtered towards the exits, holding their idol's final partings close. Little did they know, the real show was about to begin. 

I could hear the excited yammering of a man I could only assume was their manager to someone on the phone as the seven of them were ushered towards the bus. I whispered through the minds of the six security guards that no matter what they saw or heard they would not acknowledge or even remember it happening and to carry on as if nothing was in fact occurring behind them. I checked once more for stray fans before the fireworks began finding the place desolate of anyone except the guards and myself. The door burst open and a middle-aged man stepped to the side, holding a phone to his ear with his shoulder while distractedly holding the door with his free hand as the men began filing out. I smiled and sat up slowly, feeling them creep closer like icy critters crawling across my flesh. The first one landed on the ground and I slid off the edge of the bus. I didn't speak fluent Korean or anything but I knew enough to know that the manager was apologizing to one of the taller men with purple hair, that I recognized as the one they called Rap Monster, as he waved his hand in a gesture that said he would catch up, fleeing back inside. Oh good, that made my job a little easier. 

I waited and shook my head at the foolishness of my foes as they surrounded my targets. I peeked around the back corner of the bus so that I could see the moment the young stars noticed the danger they were in. Sure enough the soft gasp drawn from the mouth of the shortest member, possessor of the bright pink hair, called Jimin sounded only seconds before the first blur rushed forward. I darted around the bus and drew the sword down my spine, killing the shadowy figure on the downswing only inches from the surprised idol. I got to see his eyes widen as the figure I'd struck exploded into ash, a small pile of bones making a dull click as they fell to the asphalt below before flecking apart in the slight breeze. I turned and fought off the first wave of attackers before turning back to face the seven men cuddled together in a cluster against the wall with my sword held out and ready but loose at my side. 

“Get in the bus.” Seven pairs of eyes blinked at me in a wide array of emotions from panic to curiosity. I opened my mouth to repeat myself but snapped it shut as I rolled out of the way of the sword about to impale me from above. I swore loudly as one of the guards went down with a scream and I realized I had left them without any defense. I killed the thing on top of him but not before his throat was torn out. I closed my eyes and offered quick condolences for the poor guy before the fight was on again. I struggled for nearly five minutes with defending the idols as well as the guards before I got a break. I whirled to face them again. 

“Get in the bus.” I repeated, voice thick with the edge of violence. The purple haired Rap Monster stepped forward, his members clinging onto him. I slew another would-be attacker before sighing hard and flicking ash from my braid. “Please, get on the bus?” Rap Monster licked his lips nervously.

“W-what do you want with us?” I rolled my eyes. I personally wanted nothing to do with them other than the money attached to their contract but I was going to humor him until one of the figures dropped behind him. I unholstered my gun and stepped quickly to the side, shooting past Rap Monster's face to blow the guy behind him into a cloud of ashes before Rap Monster could so much as flinch. He spun and looked down at the ash pile before looking back to me with panicked eyes and suddenly my patience was just gone. 

“Get in the fucking bus!” I shouted in Korean and gestured to the bus door with the gun in my hand. We had only minutes to be out of this area before someone would show up to investigate the gunshot. The men scurried towards the bus. I moved behind them, acting as their shield against the slew of shadows rushing us. I stepped up into the bus and kicked the man behind me out of the door. 

“Somebody close the door.” I called behind me while struggling with another guy. I stabbed him and blinked ash out of my eyes. “Close the door!” I yelled in Korean. The doors suddenly snapped shut and I whirled, running down the aisle until I could see them all, pausing for a moment while I thought about how to say what I needed in Korean. “Who can drive?” I was answered with blank stares for a moment before all but two people raised their hands. “Then why isn't someone driving?” I said in English. I was greeted by blank stares again and I sighed heavily while running my hand over my face irritatedly. “Someone. Drive.” I ground out in Korean. A tall man with really broad shoulders stood and nervously scurried towards me, stopping only two seats away. He stared for a second and then jumped so hard he fell into the seat next to him when something hit the side of the bus. “Drive!” I yelled at him while pointing down the aisle towards the front. 

He scurried over the seats to get past me instead of walking down the aisle. One of the windows in the back of the bus exploded in and one of the bastards squeezed through the opening. I cursed and rushed to the back to take care of it but all at once shadowy figures crawled through newly made openings to the soundtrack of the men screaming and shattering glass. Three more windows had been busted out and they were steadily creeping in. I jerked one of the shadows off of a screaming Jimin, who hopped up and ran to the front of the bus, screaming in panic. I took out the ones who had crept in and fell into a defensive stance waiting for more, but none came. An odd silence had settled around the bus so that all I could hear was the terrorized shouting of Jimin in incoherent Korean, the engine and several of the other members comforting pink hair. I slung my long braid over my shoulder and re-sheathed my sword in a quick, well-practiced motion. I felt more than saw him watching me and smiled to myself as I flopped down onto one of the seats, turning to face the huddle. All except for two of the men were trying to comfort Jimin. I met the eyes of a strikingly handsome man, one of the taller ones, with hair a shade or two shy of carrot. Every feature he possessed seemed enlarged and rather striking so that he was perfect in a near alien way. It was his eyes that entranced me. The large startling darkness of them gave his stare a depth that seemed to know more than he would let on, a quick intelligence. I flicked my eyes over to the purple haired Rap Monster who's eyes were also glued to me as he sat forward, elbows on his knees. His eyes were also dark but held a fierce intelligence, and fear just beneath the curiosity. I stared pleasantly back into his so handsome face, analyzing the details of every line. I got a little distracted with the large, rich pink fullness of his lips so I got to watch his mouth open to reveal bright white, perfect teeth as he spoke. 

“What are they?” His voice was a bit higher pitched than you'd expect but very soothing. I flicked my eyes back up to his and smiled a bit unpleasantly at the lightly accented English of his question that suggested he was rather fluent. 

“How long were you going to watch me struggle to communicate in Korean before you revealed you can speak English?” He looked down at the floor for a moment before looking back up at me with a shy smile stretching those so pretty lips. 

“Sorry. It wasn't exactly the first thing on my mind.” I tried to think of the state of shock they must be in and found myself nodding. 

“Fine. I understand.”

“What are they? The things you killed.” I glanced back at the large eyes of the other man, who also possessed a fantastic mouth, while I spoke. 

“Vampires.” His already large eyes widened and his full lips parted as he gasped in disbelief. 

“I'm sorry, did you just say vampires?” Purple hair said. 

“I did.” I really liked the large eyes like dark liquid pools of the carrot haired man. They were quite lovely. 

“That's impossible.” 

“Is it? Why don't you educate me on what they were then.” I gave him bored eyes while I watched his mind work as if I could see the gears turning in those so transparent eyes that were wide with about fifteen different emotions. 

“Vampires?” I looked to the man who had crept up in the seat behind the carrot haired man. His hair was a deep red that looked a lot like blood in the dark of the bus. His face was narrow, the lines strong yet beautiful so that I almost couldn't tell if he was a masculine handsome or a delicate beauty. His mouth was also full and ripe pink from him biting his lips, a mouth with soft lines at the corners that said he smiled more than he frowned. He wasn't smiling as he repeated his one word question. I stared at the absolute perfection of his face and nodded in response. 

“Who-...what are you?” I felt my lips pull into a smile wide enough to flash most of my teeth and heard someone gasp as I looked back to Rap Monster who was just full of questions. He was astute enough to realize that the more important question wasn't who but rather what I was. That earned him brownie points in my book. 

“What I am is the person hired to keep you alive. Who I am is none of your concern.” He bristled a little at that but seemed to accept it. 

“Are you...assassin?” The red haired man asked in uncertain, thickly accented English. I looked to him and smiled wider. They were just amusing the hell out of me. 

“If I was we wouldn't be having this conversation.” He frowned.

“Mwo (what)?” I laughed a little and shook my head. 

“Not today.” His eyes widened and he cocked his head in an utterly adorable gesture that said he was confused. I couldn't help the loud bray of laughter. He was just too cute. When I sat back and was simply smiling at them in silence I noticed that every pair of eyes in the back of this bus were on me and looked at each of them in turn. They were all varying levels of hot, beautiful, sexy and cute. Not a one of them was unattractive. I found myself wanting to hug the pink haired Jimin and I couldn't stop staring at the unbelievable, almost feminine beauty of the black haired one I thought I recognized as the youngest. I couldn't quite put my finger on what it was about his face that made it just masculine enough to save it from being completely feminine and yet you'd somehow never mistake him for a woman. I found him...alluring, against my better judgment. 

“Who hired you?” Purple hair asked. I smiled and turned my head towards him until I was forced to roll my eyes away from the beauty of the men still huddled around Jimin. 

“Better question.” Carrot top said in his deep and heavily accented English while raising his hand and leaning forward a bit. I cocked my head and waited but he seemed to be picking his words carefully, as if he didn't know much English. His eyes were rolled up and his lips moved slightly while he mumbled to himself before he suddenly flashed me a brilliant, unexpected, smile. “Why bad guys aren't attacking, now?” He pointed down to the ground with the last word to emphasize and grinned like a child proud of their accomplishment. I smiled wide and found myself laughing at how utterly adorable that was. Purple hair and carrot top were both looking at me slightly open-mouthed before they looked at each other then back at me, smiles growing on their so pretty mouths as they watched me laugh. I shook my head and sighed, leaning back again and crossing my legs. 

“You're right, carrot top. That is the better question. They won't attack us as long as we're driving through the city.” Rapmon frowned at my nickname for the other man but translated what I had said without looking away from me. I ignored him and watched as the orange haired man turned to me with curious eyes. 

“Wae (why)?” Rapmon opened his mouth like he was going to translate but I held my hand up as I spoke first. 

“Too many people...well, too many humans, if I'm being precise. Too much exposure. The primary rule of the supernatural world is to avoid that kind of thing.”

“So as long as they might get busted by the humans we're not going to have a problem with them?” Purple hair asked.

“Aniyo (no). Not exactly. They don't mind killing a handful here or there if the humans happen to be in their way or they're hunting but for the most part it is just bad for everyone if someone gets careless or carried away. You saw what they did to that security guard tonight. Don't ever make the mistake of thinking you are completely safe, no matter where you are. If they really want you, they'll find a way.” I laid my head back on the back of the seat, slumping down to do so, and closed my eyes as I listened to purple hair translate what I had just said. Carrot top asked several questions and they began conversing for a few minutes. 

“Who hired you?” “Who wants us dead?” Purple hair suddenly asked at the same time as the deep red haired man, who had been so quietly sitting cross legged in the shadows in the aisle that I had forgotten he was there. I smiled softly. Now they were asking the really good questions.

“It is no concern of mine who hired me and whoever it is that wants you dead is serious enough about it to have done the research and negotiated a contract with vampires.” 

“What do you mean it isn't your concern who hired you?” Purple hair asked heatedly. I shrugged. 

“Anyone can hire me.” If the price was right. I yawned and shifted to get more comfortable. 

“Isn't there a line you won't cross?” 

“Ani (no).” I made sure to say it in Korean so that it would be extra clear. I was already tired of the Q&A. 

“Everyone has something they won't do.” I looked at him through half-lidded eyes.

“I don't.” He opened his mouth like he was going to say something in protest but promptly snapped it shut as the broad shouldered man driving the bus began talking loudly over his shoulder in Korean. Purple hair never looked away from me, I felt the weight of his eyes and knew he didn't trust me. I smiled. Smart man. I could hear his frown in his voice as he translated. 

“He wants to know where he is going or if you'd just like him to get us more lost driving through the city until we run out of gas.” They were a snarky bunch of men.

“You need to go back to your hotel of course.”

“We're not staying at a hotel.”

“It doesn't matter where you are staying it only matters that you get back to the place people expect you to be.” He stared at me for a moment longer before I heard him retreat towards the front of the bus followed by a low conversation between him and the driver that turned into a group discussion as the black haired one pulled out his phone and a few moments later the mechanical drone of a female voice came on, her thick British drawl announcing that in 900 feet the man driving should turn right. The man driving began to yell about the directions being in English to which the black haired one seemed to defend by saying it was to improve his English, followed by a taunt that made the driver scoff irritatedly. The black haired man clapped his hand on one of the broad shoulders and squeezed comfortingly while assuring the man he'd be his GPS and not to worry. I looked away from the two of them bickering in the front like old friends to find the dark red haired one and carrot top staring intently at me. Carrot top was content to just sit and stare but the other one looked like he wanted something. 

“What's up, Red?” He raised an eyebrow at me but said nothing. “Why are you staring at me like that?” His eyes flicked down to something on my shoulder then back up to my face. I looked down and saw the small wound in my shoulder that bled pretty steadily. “Oh. Don't worry about that. I'll be fine.” He didn't seem to understand what I was saying but instead began crawling the few feet toward me. I watched him come, curious as to what he would do once he got to me. He stopped about half a foot back, sitting back on his heels and looking up at me with his hands flat on his thighs as if to show himself to be unarmed. The display was unnecessary but I gave him points for being smart enough to know when he was out of his league. He said something in Korean and even though the words sounded pretty I had no idea what they meant

“Mwo (what)? Hobi hyung?” Carrot top sat forward with wide startled eyes and those luscious lips parted slightly. The man I now knew as Hobi turned his head and spoke low and fast to him. Carrot top was quiet for a minute before he nodded. I cocked my head, curious about the exchange. Carrot top pulled his knees up to his chest and laid his face on them so that he was looking at me, a pose that was just too fucking cute. 

“He wants to touch you.” He said in slow but clear English. I looked back at red hair. 

“Wae (why)?” I asked him. He flushed pink and I heard his heart rate pick up as he inched closer on his knees without looking up from his lap. I frowned down at him as he rose up on his knees so that I could feel his body press in a line from my knees to ankles. As he leaned over my legs bringing that beautiful face nearer I couldn't help but to think all I'd need to do is spread my legs to have him closer. I swallowed as he leaned in, smelling the blood rushing faster and faster as his heart raced just beneath the surface. I felt my fangs begin to elongate and clenched my jaw. I was about to tell him to back up when he mumbled next to my ear. 

“It is you that smells like that.” I knew enough Korean that I got that. I moved my head back so that I could look at him and found myself looking into his face from only inches away. Even as close to him as I was I couldn't find a flaw in his perfect complexion. I had completely forgotten about how attracted humans were to my kind, the pheromones we threw off act like a magnet, drawing prey in. Some were more susceptible than others, Red apparently fell on the more side of the spectrum. 

“We're almost-” I saw purple hair stop when he saw Red and I, assessing the situation before moving to carrot top and quietly whispering to figure out what was going on. I flicked my eyes back to Red when he moved in just a little more, locking his eyes on mine. He lifted his hand up and traced just the barest hint of his finger tips over my cheek. I grabbed his hand as my fangs lengthened and from his soft gasp I could tell my eyes were probably glowing slightly. I needed to control myself more. I was usually better than this. What was wrong with me? 

“Hobi?” Purple hair's voice drifted into my existence and it sounded like he had been trying to get our attention for a little while. Red didn't seem to hear his leader and if he did he simply didn't care. “Hoseok!” I leaned into him a little more so that my lips brushed his cheek as I spoke, his quickening breath tickling through the small curls that had broken free of my braid. 

“You should be more careful of who you touch so freely.” I said it in slow and deliberate Korean so as not to lisp around the fangs, squeezing his wrist for emphasis. He made some small noise in the back of his throat and I stood abruptly, letting him go as I moved so that he either had to fall back or be pushed back. He flopped onto his butt as I swept by him, stopping next to purple hair.

“Are we almost there?” Purple hair nodded and seemed extra cold and wary toward me now. “Good.” I walked toward the front and leaned over the driver seat to look out the window, attempting to discern where we were. We appeared to be going down a long driveway that cut through a small patch of woods before opening up to a decent sized clearing with a two-story house in the center. I scoffed and rolled my eyes as I felt just what I expected would happen. The driver was tense next to me and I smiled down at the dark haired one who kept staring at me. 

“What's up, gorgeous? You want a kiss or something?” He seemed to know enough English that he flushed in embarrassment and looked past me further into the bus. I turned and paused, thinking about how to say what I needed in Korean under time constraints. 

“Everybody get down.” They all stared at me blankly. I sighed and turned, grabbing the black haired man by the arm and hustling him into a row of seats, shoving him down on the floor between them. “Curl up and stay down.” I said in English. He complied instantly and I stood, looking at each of the remaining men and pointing at them then down at the youngest on the floor. Purple hair was the first to move, grabbing Red and hustling him to a seat which motivated everyone to begin scrambling for cover. I rushed back to the driver, hitting the release catch on his seat belt and snatching him up as soon as the bus was put in park. I barely managed to throw him in between the seats in time to draw my sword and kill the vampire that had busted through the windshield. Glass began breaking everywhere. For the next ten minutes I fought off the vampires, falling into a defensive crouch when I was finally met with quiet. The only thing I could hear was the racing of my own heart and breathing and the quiet sobbing of the small pink haired one. I closed my eyes and focused on the area around the bus and found nothing. I stood and re-sheathed my sword. 

“It's over.” I called out before stepping down the stairs and kicking the door open. The night air felt crisp and cool against my sweat-slicked skin. I rounded the back end of the bus, falling back against it and groaning as I yanked a small silver spike out of my gut. I heard the men filtering out of the bus. Jimin came crashing out of one of the broken windows, landing in a sloppy roll. He just couldn't seem to wait to get out of the small bus. I chuckled softly and turned to begin walking down the driveway. I had walked about twenty or so feet before I heard someone yelling after me. 

“Ya! YA!” I heard a couple people running to catch up to me and stopped to turn and face them. They stopped too fast in an attempt to not run into me and Red wound up falling and almost busting his ass, but popping right back up as if nothing had happened. 

“Where are you going?” Purple hair asked. 

“I was contracted to get you safely back to the place you were staying from your concert tonight. I've done that.” I turned and began to walk again. 

“So, what? Now you're just going to leave us to fend for ourselves?” I shrugged. 

“That's what I do.” 

“YA!” He shouted, grabbing my upper arm and jerking me around to face him. I looked down at his hand on my arm. “What if they come back? Will they come back?”

“Maybe.” I shrugged with the shoulder attached to the arm that wasn't being squeezed to death by human desperation. “Probably.” His jaw dropped open and he looked utterly flabbergasted. 

“We'll be slaughtered.” I nodded. 

“Probably.” He shoved me away and yanked his hand back from me as if touching me had burned him. He glared at me and I could see the hatred and disgust for me in the gleam in his eyes and the curl of his lip. 

“Are you even human?” Whatever emotion had been on my face suddenly melted away and I felt the warmth leave my eyes as I welcomed the cold that had been my only comfort and shield for longer than I cared to think about. 

“Whatever humanity I once had was lost a long time ago.” He sneered at me. 

“You're disgusting.” He grumbled. I smirked and swept a low, dramatic bow.

“Pleasure to make your acquaintance. Though sadly, I must cut this little chat short.” He cursed rapidly in Korean, shaking his head as he turned away. He grabbed Red's upper arm as if to drag him off with him but Red shook himself free and ran up to me, invading the hell out of my personal bubble. 

“Please. Don't leave us.” I shook my head and he grabbed my right hand in both of his. I blinked in shock as he suddenly went down on his knees bowing his head against our hands. 

“Ige mwoji (what is this)?” I asked him, cocking my head to the side. He spoke slowly in Korean but his voice was so deep and mumbled from speaking with his lips brushing our fingers that even I had to lean in to hear, but failed at understanding. 

“Mwo (what)?” I asked tiredly, already done with the drama. He stood suddenly and looked me dead in the face from less than a foot away. I got a good look at the tears brimming along a thick line of lashes, but what stole my attention was the fear in the dark eyes behind them. His voice was thicker now as he spoke, the words not quite as clear but I still couldn't understand because my Korean wasn't that good. He was using some fancy words, which didn't help me any.

“Ihaega andwae (I don't understand). And I'm really losing interest in the dramatics.” Hoseok turned his head to Rapmon and began speaking in rapidly desperate tones before looking back to me. I could still see the fear in the soft lines of his eyes but the harder set lines of his face spoke of a new determination. I realized as he leaned into me that the terror in his eyes was no longer for his friends but fear of me, yet he leaned into me still. But what did he think he was going to accomplish by doing this? He stopped only when he was close enough that I could taste his breath on my lips. He was too close. 

“If you...leave-” He frowned slightly and I watched him think for a moment before his eyes focused back on me. “-If you leave, we die.” I was impressed with his effort at communicating in English to me but simply smiled sadly and looked off into the trees behind him as I sighed. 

“Ne (yeah).” I dipped my head slightly to agree. “Ama (probably).” His eyes widened a second before he pulled his hands away from mine. I thought he was pulling away but instead was further surprised when he slid his long slender fingers along my jaw on both sides. His breathing sped and his eyes widened even more, as if he had surprised himself but he persevered. 

“You...could save...us.” He stayed there for a few moments, eyes flicking frantically back and forth between mine before he pulled his hand away and gestured vaguely to the men that had gathered behind us as if I needed the emphasis. I smiled widely, feeling my cheeks move beneath the surprising softness of his palm, lifting my own hands to grab his and remove it as gently as I could. I laughed and shook my head. 

“I could but I'm expensive.”

“Mwo (what)?” Hoseok asked. Rapmon translated and when Hoseok looked back at me that pretty face was all screwed up in confusion and then suddenly he got it. I watched his face go flat and his throat convulse as he swallowed no less than four times. He seemed to mentally struggle with something before he rolled his lower lip in, biting it and nodding before speaking. 

“How much?” He asked boldly in English. I raised my eyebrows and laughed so hard I had to stagger away from him a few steps just to double over with the amusement of it. I stood straight and wiped the tears away, shaking my head.

“Trust me, baby. You can't afford me, I'm more trouble than you're worth.” I said in a voice thick with laughter. “I haven't laughed like that in...forever. I guess I should thank you for that.” I turned with that and began to walk away again. I could hear the purple haired leader talking to Red in hurried tones but Red stayed quiet until I was almost to the tree line. 

“Ya! YA!” I smiled as I heard Red call out to me again but kept it moving. I cocked my head curiously as I heard him coming toward me at a relatively sedate but determined pace. I also heard Rapmon trying to stop him. As I crossed into the depth of woodland shadows I heard Red pick up the pace but someone blasted past him. I smiled broadly to myself and stopped, turning around to face them and leaning back against a tree. The shadows were so thick I knew their human eyes would never be able to see me even if I were right next to them. I watched the dark haired younger one run without hesitation into the woods after me. Sure enough, he ran right past me. I watched him go but my smile faded when I looked back to see that Red had stopped at the very edge of the tree line and stared into the darkness with wide eyes filled with fear, fear for his friends and probably a substantial amount of fear for the young man that had so foolishly run after an armed assassin. Not the smartest thing in the world to do. I frowned slightly as Red's eyes seemed to focus directly on me. Logically, I knew there was no way he could possibly see me but something in his eyes filled me with pity and I sighed to myself as I popped off the tree trunk and turned to walk further into the forest. I followed the sounds of the younger dark haired one, trailing him and shaking my head at the young man's shouts. I caught up to him but simply stuck to the shadows, not revealing myself. He fumbled through the dark woods for nearly fifteen minutes before coming to a stop and looking around with wide eyes as he spun in a circle. 

“YA!” He screamed, this time I could hear the panic in his voice and I didn't like the twinge of pity that wormed it's way through me. “ASSASSIN!” I smiled sadly as he screamed for me from the depths of his stomach, doubling over with the force of emotion behind it. He fell to his knees after the last decibel of sound parted from him, as if defeat had kicked his legs from beneath him. I dropped quietly from the tree I had been sitting in into a crouch only ten feet away from him. He sighed and fell back onto his butt, folding his legs Indian style. It wasn't until he tossed his head back to look up at the rays of moonlight that managed to penetrate the thick forest canopy that I noticed the few tears that had slipped down that incredibly perfect face. How long was he going to sit there? 

“You shouldn't make so much noise. I'm not the only thing hiding in these woods.” He sat up straighter and began squinting those lovely eyes trying to see into the shadows around him as his heart began pounding harder. I watched him search for me unsuccessfully for a few moments. 

“Why are you hiding in the shadows?” His English was heavily accented but smooth and deep sounding. I kind of liked it. I smiled. 

“I'm not.”

“Yes. You are.” His Korean was smooth but slowed down so I'd have a better chance at understanding. 

“The shadows are my sanctuary. It's when I am in plain sight that I am hiding.” He frowned and leaned forward a bit as if being marginally closer would help him understand better. He stood with an easy grace and stared in my general direction. 

“Why won't you help us?” He said in heavily accented English. 

“You don't want my help. I'm trouble, trust me.” He shook his head and took a step towards me. 

“Even if I don't want your help I need it. We need you.” I didn't answer for a long enough time that I saw his eyes widen with anxiety, breathing picking up.

“You do know what I am, Ne (yes)?” He frowned but swallowed hard and looked up into the forest canopy. I was pleasantly surprised at how much English he knew and how well he communicated.

“Ne.” His voice was soft with some intense emotion. 

“What am I?” I could hear the distant calling of a couple of his group members and an argument ensuing between the two eldest about the pros and cons of coming into the woods to find the youngest who's name was clearly Jungkook. Interesting name. 

“Why are you asking me when you would know better than I?”

“I know what I am, yes. I want to know what exactly you think I am.” He sighed and shook his head. 

“Assassin.” He said quietly in English. I nodded. 

“Ne. Among other things.” He turned his head to glare into the shadows I was crouched in.

“What is that supposed to mean, among other things?” I smiled again. He was boldly inquisitive, despite the terror forcing his heart to race in order to keep up. 

“You need not know the answer to that.”

“So why say anything about it at all?” I frowned and shrugged. 

“You have a point. You know all you need to know of me.”

“You're an assassin.” 

“We've already confirmed that.”

“Why won't you help us then? You have the skill set for it.” I raised an eyebrow in amusement. 

“Are you intentionally being obtuse, boy? I'm an assassin, not a charity.” He opened his mouth but stopped, snapping it shut and grinding his teeth as I watched the delicate lines of his face twist up with rekindled anger. 

“Step out of the shadows while we talk.” He demanded, his anger lending him courage. When I made no move to come into the light he ran his fingers through his hair and made a sound of frustration. 

“It's not an act of charity if we're willing to pay for it.” Interesting. 

“But you don't know my price.” He whirled and walked several steps closer to me before stilling himself only three feet away. 

“It doesn't matter.”

“You're very confident you can afford me but there are seven of you and one of me, I can assure you the price is substantial. And I am a very busy woman.” He was downright annoyed now as he spoke. 

“For someone so busy it's...curious that you be sitting in the woods talking to me when you have places to go and people to kill.” That took me by surprise but not nearly as much as when he stepped forward again and crouched so that I was almost certain he could see at least my silhouette as he spoke. “Why are you still here, assassin, if not to help us?” I frowned. Why was I still here? Even I didn't really know. It had to be after one in the morning by now, which meant all my lollygagging had made me miss my next mark already. The fool would get to live to see another night thanks to this curious collection of boys. I smiled and shrugged. 

“I already missed my next mark of the evening so I have some time to burn.” He cocked his head.

“You're the one who was playing games, assassin.” I shrugged again. 

“I can afford to. Besides, I'd think you'd be happier about it.” He frowned in genuine confusion. 

“Wae (why)?” 

“Our little game let that man live to breathe another night.” His eyes widened and his skin paled a little, throat convulsing as he swallowed several times. He looked away into the darkness of the forest behind me for a few moments and I watched emotions roll over his face one after the other until he finally settled on determination. Curiously enough he moved closer in an almost predatorial crouch-walk until his knee brushed against mine. He froze for a moment and then he put his hand on my knee and went from being crouched to kneeling so close I could feel the warmth of him radiate against my leg. He squinted hard in the dark like he was trying to pick out details. A fine tremble coursed through the long fingers of his hand. 

“What are you hoping to achieve, Jungkook?” His eyes widened and he flinched, fingers convulsing slightly at the mention of his name. His surprise was almost palpable. 

“Otoke (how/what the-?!)-” I grabbed his hand and used it to yank him against me faster than he could even begin to think about taking his next breath, cutting him off. 

“Did you think I didn't know you're name, Jungkook?” I said his name in a low, predatorial voice right next to his ear. He shivered but stayed completely still otherwise. The sound of his heart and rapid breathing was loud in the sudden silence in the forest. Even the crickets had gone silent sensing something dangerous nearby. I resisted the urge to run my tongue up the large, erratically throbbing vein that ran along the length of his neck. “It would seem you keep forgetting what I am, boy. I am not your friend so why do you so casually touch me?” I tightened my hold on his arm, digging my fingers in and forcing a small sound of pain from him while simultaneously squeezing my arm around the small of his back so that he gasped slightly. I closed my eyes tight, trying to reel myself in at the way his heart flipped in his chest and the smell of fear, but just underneath was the smell of...something else. I couldn't quite put my finger on it. I let him go as abruptly as I had grabbed him and was a safe distance away before he'd even fallen forward, catching himself with his hands. I shook my head and began to walk off into the trees. 

“Jushigesseoyo (polite/formal please).” I paused momentarily. “Please.” He said in English in a hushed tone, barely above a whisper. 

“Aniyo. Go back to your people.” I ran through the trees before he could distract me again. I had just come to the road we had used to get to where they were staying when my phone went off. I paused with one foot on the road and stepped back into the tree line in case a car happened by while I checked my phone. The light was blinding for a second and then I clicked on the email notification and laughed. I threw my head back and basked in the irony, shaking my head as I turned around and began moseying back the way I had just come. I guess I was going to have to pass the job I had missed tonight to someone else

By the time I made it back the bus had been disposed of, which made me wonder who these boys had on their payroll and how they were going to explain that one. I moved along the edge of the woods, circling the house until I had seen inside every window I could. I only saw two of the men, the purple haired Rapmon and the pink haired Jimin, the rest were upstairs by the sound of it, showering and fiddling around with various luggage and electronics. I watched the leader comfort Jimin for a while until the smaller man fell asleep, at which point Rapmon took his jacket off and covered him. Purple hair look down at the smaller man for a good few minutes before he turned and looked up suddenly. 

The mint haired one stepped into the picture, rubbing a towel through his hair as he and the leader exchanged some words while he stepped up onto the end of the couch where Jimin was laying and sat with his knees pulled up against his chest. There was a lot of nodding between the two men as Mint hair told his leader that he would watch Jimin and demanded that he go shower in an attempt at unwinding. Rapmon did what mint hair said and suddenly the other man was sitting alone in the living room. His eyes were focused on Jimin for a while, similar to what Rapmon had done, before he stood and brushed hair back from Jimin's forehead before turning suddenly and looking right out the window I was looking into. I startled a little at the uncomfortable, though irrational, feeling that he was staring at me. He cocked his head to the side and frowned as he strode calmly toward the window, staring out into the ink black of the night. I knew there was no way he could possibly see me in the thickness of the shadows in the edge of the trees but I still had to resist the urge to look around me for the object of his attention. He seemed confused about something but continued staring at the window, probably only really seeing a reflection of the room he was standing in. He stood at that window for at least half the time Rapmon was gone before he went and curled back up on the couch. 

The rest of the night was uneventful, but very informative. Mint hair was not only incredibly astute but a night owl as well, which was going to be problematic. The others slept soundly. Minty spent his time sitting in various spots in deep thought, wandering around with a notebook that looked worn from too much use and a simple pen, the cap of which was indented and warped with teeth marks, evidencing many a night of contemplative restlessness. I saw just this over the next six days as I followed them around, keeping a watchful eye from the shadows. 

 

*****************************************

 

I dispatched a few informants over the course of the next few days which in and of itself was a dead give away that these boys were not unguarded. It wasn't until exactly a week after I received the new contract that the first attack happened. 

I was slinking through the shadows backstage, when I felt it. By my clock there was probably about another two songs before the show wrapped. I swore under my breath at the lack of time but froze when I felt the presence withdraw. Odd. What were they planning. 

When the final goodbyes were screamed out into the microphones over a rambunctious crowd I moved out of the way of the lights coming up, finding only a small dark corner between a wall and a heavy wall of curtain. The boys passed by in a sweaty raucous and I swept quickly through the hallways behind them, moving from shadow to shadow. I had no idea what the enemy had planned but I wasn't going to leave them unguarded for a single moment. I waited for all the hustle to die down, sighing as the last hair dryer went off and the door was flung open to reveal a grinning Rapmon with his arm slung around Jimin's shoulders, hugging him against his side as he moved them down the hallway. Everyone else followed one by one, except for carrot top who was still messing with his clothes. The dark haired boy that had run after me into the woods paused, looking down at his phone as he searched for the song he wanted to hear. He pocketed the phone then leaned back around the doorway to the dressing room as he popped one of the earphones in. 

“What are you doing Tae hyung? Let's go.” 

Carrot top smiled at the boy in the mirror and sighed, turning and grabbing his jacket, slinging it over his shoulder as he walked towards the younger boy. The maknae, a title I had learned only applied to the youngest member, began retreating down the hallway again. Carrot top stopped just clear of the doorway and frowned. I watched him roll the ripeness of his lower lip in and bite it as if contemplating something. His big, lovely eyes rolled down and seemed to find me in the shadows. I didn't move, afraid he might see it. His frown deepened a second before a small voice behind him turned his attention. 

A slight woman who probably stood about five foot even was revealed in the doorway as he turned to let her by. She was holding a case almost half her size, a huge silver and black box. Carrot top's eyes went wide and he scrambled to take it from her. The woman was flustered, smiling and telling him she was more capable than she looked to which he replied that she should be more careful and tend to her own health by letting others help her sometimes. She ran back into the room to grab yet another sizable bag and came out walking ahead of the taller man who continued to chastise the woman in a friendly way. Fifteen minutes later the van the boys piled into hit the road and a half hour later we were back at the house. 

I frowned, skin crawling with the impending violence. The vampires were coming closer as Rapmon and the manager, whom they called PD nim, said there goodbyes. The two hugged and I almost slumped with relief as the van pulled away with promises of seeing the boys bright and early to hit the airport. I stood in the shadows, willing them to go inside to which most of them complied, except the mint haired Min Yoongi. He tossed his bag inside the door onto the couch and came back outside to pace around tapping his pen against his thigh while fanning himself with a little pad instead of his typical journal. Fuck. Go inside, Minty! I cursed under my breath and began walking towards him. They were coming and I needed him out of the combat zone. I picked my pace up when I shivered, sensing something big coming. Lightly jogging, I came up quietly and swiftly behind him so that when he turned around to pace back I was only a few feet away but I didn't stop. 

He let out a surprised yelp and began to try to scurry backwards, almost falling if I wouldn't have wrapped my hand around his arm. He was saying something to me in frantic Korean and trying to pry my fingers off of his arm, digging his heels into the ground in an attempt to fight me off. I whirled on him with a heavy sigh. My head snapped to the side with the unexpected impact of his fist hitting my face. I growled softly and grabbed both of his arms tightly. His eyes were wild as he shook his head.

“Hajima (stop/don't do it), hajima, hajima, hajima-” He repeated this again and again, slamming his eyes shut. I cursed at the fright I had caused the boy but I didn't have time to console him, nor was it my job. I picked him up and slung him over my shoulder and he began slamming his hands against me, punching and slapping at my back. 

“Aniyo! Aniyo! Jebal (please- pleading version)! Jebal nal jukijima (Please don't kill me)!” I ignored his pleas as I ran towards the house feeling the ground rumble beneath my feet. I was fifteen feet from the door when a giant landed in front of it. I skid to a halt so fast I wound up on my ass. I shrugged Yoongi off my shoulder, shoving him behind me as I drew my sword, coming up on one knee in a defensive crouch. The thing blocking my path was undoubtedly male but certainly hadn't been human in quite some time, if ever, baring fangs longer than my arm as he stood from the crouch he had landed in. I felt my mouth open wide in awe while Yoongi gasped, balling his hands in my shirt and hiding behind me as a child might hide behind his parents. At it's full height the giant easily stood around fourteen feet tall, like a compact giraffe. I swallowed hard, knowing what I was looking at. 

“Well howdy there, gigantor.” The man bellowed, the sound loud enough to make me wish to cover my sensitive ears. Yoongi buried his face in my shoulder for a moment before realizing what he had done and seemingly forcing himself to let me go. Still, he hid behind me, but I certainly didn't blame him. I kind of wished I could hide behind someone. I stood, switching my sword to my non-dominant hand with a casualness I didn't feel. “I don't suppose you would just move aside?” He laughed at me and I nodded, sighing. “No. I guess that would've just been too easy.” I glanced quickly over my shoulder at the slight, crouched figure of Yoongi behind me who looked up at me with wide eyes. 

“Mianhe (sorry).” I didn't have time to say anything else as the giant launched himself at me. I grabbed Yoongi's upper arm and launched him through the air at the last second, consequently not having any time to brace for the impact. I was airborne for a few moments before I hit the ground, rolling several feet before coming to a breathless halt. I had dropped my sword at some point during the flight and barely managed to roll out of the way to avoid being stomped on, coming to my feet on the coattails of one hell of an adrenaline rush. I easily dodged a few of the man's swings. He was powerful, but slow. As long as I could avoid being hit I might be alright. The door to the house flung open and I looked to see the amazed face of Taehyung, aka V, aka carrot top. Someone was coming up behind him and I wanted to warn them but time was not my friend. 

Despite having only looked away for a moment that was all the giant had needed. I tried to move out of the way but failed. His hand wrapped around my waist and hips, fingers nearly touching. I could feel my hips grinding in protest, spine bowing under the pressure as I gasped in pain while he lifted me higher and higher into the air. I fumbled my gun free of my shoulder holster as he lifted me high above his head. I knew he was about to smash me into the ground and wasn't sure how useful I'd be if he succeeded. Just as his muscles tensed I fired into the arm holding me. He flinched as I shot him three times consecutively and then screamed when the final two shots blew his arm nearly completely off, sending me falling to the ground. I rolled to my feet and took several steps back, raising my gun to aim at the head as the giant screamed, clutching his arm against him. He whirled on me, snarling with a mouth of fangs like something out of your worst nightmares. I open fired into his face as he charged me but he kept coming, forcing me to dive out of his way or be trampled but he had grown smart. Before I could finish coming to my feet he turned on a dime, much quicker than I would ever have given him for, and kicked me, punting me through the air. I slammed into the nice brick siding of the house, feeling it crumble slightly under the impact. I slowly rolled to my knees, holding my stomach and ribs as I struggled to breathe. Sound was coming back in waves and I wondered why he wasn't on top of me as I hauled myself to my feet. I ducked as a small tree hit the house, leaping forward to dodge it rolling from the impact. Ah, that was why. I wiped brick dust and dirt from my face with an agitated swipe of my arm across my face. He was coming now. I fell into a fighting stance, preparing myself, smiling as I saw the blood pouring from the hole in his face that had once been his left eye and cheekbone. I knew I hadn't missed, it just took a lot to take one of these fuckers down. Too fucking much if you asked me.

“Ya! Jo-la byung-shin (fucking asshole)!” A rock flew through the air and hit the giant in the shoulder, stopping and turning him around. I winced as I saw Yoongi standing there with another rock in his hand. 

“Shit!” I muttered with feeling under my breath as the giant began lumbering towards the much smaller man. I drew the knives I wore in wrist sheaths that were usually reserved as my fail-safe plan and ran. 

I heard the screams of V and someone else as the giant closed in on Yoongi. I let a little of my vampire speed leak into my run and slid on my knees between the giant's legs, slicing deep gashes across the backs of his knees and shoving Yoongi back onto the ground while falling over him so that my body was his shield against the fist that came down. I gasped in pain as the fist landed and barely kept myself from falling on the smaller man under the impact. The giant screamed and promptly fell to his knees. His bellow of rage rang through me like the tolling of a giant bell that I was too close to. I wrapped my arms around Yoongi and rolled several times, feeling the ground shake from the force of the fists the giant would have rained down on us and hearing Yoongi's cries of pain. I left him laying on the ground and flipped the blades in my hands so that when I launched myself at the giant both sunk into his flesh. I sunk the blades home again and again as I climbed his body as fast as I could. I was already at his throat when I felt his fingers begin to claw at me, but he was too late. He wrapped his good hand around my waist and began to squeeze. I took turns plunging my blades into his throat and chest as his stump beat hectically at me fingers tightening more and more. I had to kill him before he killed me. I rode him to the ground as he finally fell, angling my blade upward and letting the impact of the fall drive the blade in his throat up into the bottom of his brain. His hand around my waist flung me and I was once again airborn. 

I was getting pretty used to this flying thing and this time I rolled to my feet much faster, my impending victory helping me find my second wind. I crouched, watching the giant claw at the blades sticking out of him. His screams were wet, coming out more like desperately pained gurgles. The gleam of my sword drew my eye and I smiled and quickly walked over to grab it. The giant wasn't going anywhere but I wasn't cruel enough to leave anyone in as much pain as he must be in. I stepped up beside his head and jumped over the arm he flailed at me, impaling the sword through his remaining eye as I came down. I didn't have time to draw it out as his arm came back at me so instead I just grabbed his wrist with both of mine and yanked his arm up as I kicked my foot down with everything I had, snapping his arm with a loud crack just below the shoulder. His arm flopped bonelessly to the ground and his screams were nearly deafening as I hopped up on his chest and drew my last remaining gun from my thigh holster, firing point blank into his face until he stopped moving. By my count I had one round left out of a thirteen round magazine. I shook my head and fell to my knees on the man's chest that was as wide as I was tall. 

I said a brief prayer for fallen warriors from the old days and wrapped my fingers around the knife I had shoved into his head that had pinned his lower jaw to his upper and yanked it out with a loud scraping sound in the sudden silence. I then did the same to the remaining knife and sword and dropped them both on the ground before sitting about fifteen feet from the fallen giant, feeling the eyes of the seven men on me and squinting my eyes shut as I felt the thick chunks of blow-back slide along my skin. Someone came over and crouched in front of me.

“Can I help?” I scoffed. Of course it would be Yoongi.

“You could have helped by going inside instead of antagonizing him even more.” Someone else came over and I heard a quiet rustling.

“Here.” A second later I felt the softness of what was probably a cotton t-shirt on my face, wiping the blood and chunks away as best as it could. Some things could only be fixed by a hot shower and lots of soap. I sat there and let him wipe me off and almost laughed when I felt his hesitation at picking off the bigger chunks that were stuck on my hair and weapons rig. I opened my eyes to find exactly what I thought I would, a shirtless Jungkook. I noticed in seconds the way Yoongi's right arm hung loosely by his side and didn't miss the way he winced as he sat back, good arm holding his injured arm tightly against his side. 

“What was that thing?” I looked up to see a genuinely concerned Namjoon walking towards us as Jin took Jimin, who looked shell-shocked from the violence, inside. Hobi and carrot top were right behind them. 

“A giant.”

“A giant?” He scoffed. “Yeah, I saw that but what was it.” I rolled my eyes up to him in annoyance before repeating myself. His eyes widened. “Like, a Giant giant?” I nodded. He looked at the new corpse on the ground in awe. “I didn't think they were real. I mean, I've read the literature on all the archeological discoveries and the macabre theories behind it all but I thought it was all fake. Like the first 'American moon landing', ya know?” I laughed at the healthy skepticism and implied quotes around the moon landing comment and nodded. He looked back at me with a look somewhere between the near child-like wonder one sees in true scholars and horror at the implications of what had just happened. I saw the unspoken knowledge in his eyes that if vampires and giants existed anything could be possible, which meant they could be in deeper shit than he had thought. 

“They really exist.” He muttered. I raised my eyebrows. 

“Yeah. It kind of took me by surprise too.” I thought the last giant had been killed a few centuries back but apparently I had been wrong. If whoever wanted these boys dead had a giant squirreled away what else did they have? What were they capable of? Namjoon looked at me with critical eyes.

“You knew exactly what it was and don't really seem that surprised.” There was that distrust and intelligence once again that made me so fond of him. 

“It is not the first giant I have seen,” or fought for that matter, “And you'll have to forgive me if my reactions aren't quite up to par with your expectations after the ass beating I just took.” He was quiet at that and I ignored him, eyes going back to Yoongi who was staring at me like he was waiting for me to collapse or something. I got onto my knees and moved until I was right in front but to the right side of him. I gently reached out and still he flinched, wincing when I gingerly grabbed his wrist and moved his arm slightly. His hand wrapped around mine when I moved his arm a little more in a silent plea for me to stop moving it. I looked into his eyes from only a couple feet away and saw the pain there. 

“I have to.” He was quiet for a moment.

“You have to what?” Namjoon asked, distrust ringing clear in his voice.

“His arm is dislocated. I have to pop it back in the socket.” Namjoon cursed in a loud, long string but I only had eyes for the man in front of me. He pursed his lips and nodded once.

“Lay down on your back for me.” He blinked in quiet confusion and Namjoon translated what I had said. Yoongi complied, seemingly trusting me much more than his leader. I grabbed his wrist in one hand, placing the other just above the elbow and forcing the arm completely straight. “This is usually easier if the other person understands what I am saying.”

“What do you need translated?” Namjoon asked. I looked at him.

“I don't need it translated. I need someone to talk to him while I do this.”

“Wae?” Jungkook asked. I smiled softly but didn't look at him.

“Because this isn't the movies, kid. It takes a lot longer to do this than what you think.”

“You can't just-” I looked up to see him grab his own upper arm in his other hand and jerk the arm up. I chuckled and shook my head. 

“Yeah, I could. If I was trying to turn an interior dislocation into an impacted fracture.” He frowned.

“And what does that mean?” Namjoon asked curiously. 

“Can someone talk to him?” Jungkook moved to the left side of Yoongi, gently moving his head to look at him instead of what I was doing as he began talking to his hyung, a term I had also picked up from following them around. I kept the arm straight as I very slowly began moving the arm up, trying not to cause him any more pain or tear anything. Namjoon was watching me and I decided to answer his question from before just to occupy myself. 

“An impacted fracture is what happens when the ends of broken bones are jammed together forcefully.” He very studiously had a follow up question.

“But it is dislocated, not broken.”

“Correct. But if I were to do the shit they do in movies I could potentially break the bones upon impact with each other, the domino effect being that I would then be jamming the broken ends of the bones I just broke together, creating said impacted fracture. It is just as unpleasant as it sounds.” I began pulling on his arm just a little, locking eyes with Namjoon when Yoongi took a slightly sharper breath in. “Tell him to tell me if it hurts or let me know in some way.” He did what I asked without question which was a relief but came back with yet another question.

“You are popping his arm back in place, isn't there supposed to be some degree of pain with it?”

“Of course.”

“Then why the warning if he's going to be in pain anyway?” I locked eyes with him and cocked my head slightly to the side.

“I'll remember this question if I ever have to help you out like this in the future.” He opened his mouth then snapped it shut. “Yes there is supposed to be a great deal of pain, considering the joint isn't sitting where it is supposed to be. It disturbs the muscles quite a lot, which is where most of the pain comes from. To refrain from causing the person more pain and possibly damaging the tissue around the socket you can't force it. If it hurts I will stop and wait for his muscles to adjust.” I adjusted my weight and moved my foot so that I could gently place it on his ribs about mid-chest. Yoongi went to move his head to look but Jungkook grabbed his chin and forced him to look at him. 

“Why are you doing that?” I sighed.

“Are you going to ask me questions the whole time?

“Yes.” I smiled at the blunt honesty and nodded. 

“I have to apply some more pressure, or pull I suppose, to help the process along.”

“Wae?”

“The body does most of the work itself. The joint wants to be in the socket so at some point it will pop itself back in. I'm simply helping it get there. The pressure will add just a bit more motivation.” 

“How do you know so much about this stuff?” I looked up at him with a raised eyebrow. 

“I know how to read too, Namjoon.” He startled a little at his name then I watched the anger filter in. 

“What? You manage to fit a chapter of 'How to be a Doctor for Dummies' in between assassination appointments? I suppose that would be useful in your line of work since I don't imagine you're too fond of going to see real doctors, what with having to make up excuses and shit all the time.” I stared blankly at him while digesting the distaste behind his snarky words. Yoongi said something that was obviously addressed to Namjoon since the purple haired leader looked down at the smaller man and ground his teeth but nodded.

“What did he say?” He glared at me.

“He asked me not to piss off the...person trying to help him.” I smiled but didn't miss the hesitation. 

“I won't hurt him because of you. It takes a lot more than that to get under my skin.”

“But you did hurt him.” I rolled my eyes up to look at him then. “This is your fault isn't it?” I looked at him for a few moments. I thought about all that had happened during the fight and the only thing I could think that would cause the dislocation was when I had thrown him out of the way in the beginning. 

“Hyung.” Jungkook said quietly with an edge of warning or maybe pleading for his friend's sake. I shook my head but never broke eye contact with grape head. 

“It's fine.” The younger boy looked at me but I ignored him. “You're right. This injury is my fault.” Namjoon smiled unpleasantly as if to say, 'See, I knew it.' 

“She is trying to help, hyung.” He looked at Jungkook.

“Cleaning up the flood after she caused it doesn't fix the water damage left behind.” I raised my eyebrows at that and Jungkook simply ignored it, going back to talking to Yoongi. To an extent he was right. There would be permanent damage because of the dislocation but I knew he was implying more.

“I said this injury was my fault. Not the attack.” I heard the quiet pop of the joint going back into the socket a second before Yoongi's whole body tensed.

“Shit!” He hissed out before going limp and sighing in relief. I gently put his arm on the ground and released him, sitting back on my haunches and looking tiredly at Namjoon. 

“How is all of this not your fault?” I stared into the rage in his eyes until he finally looked away and moved up beside Yoongi until I either had to move back or he'd be sitting on top of me. I slid back and got to my feet, watching him brush the sweat soaked hair out of Yoongi's face and mumble to him. I saw the smaller man nod and his leader slid his arm under him, lifting Yoongi to a sitting position. 

“Tell him that if he lifts his arm up and back he's going to dislocate his shoulder again.” I didn't wait for his response, instead I walked off into the dark, trying not to limp. I snatched up my weapons on the way and the ruined shirt. When I thought I was far enough away I stopped fighting the limp and a moment later I heard the door to the house open and close. I was almost to the tree line when the burning pain in my back intensified at the same time as a sharp pain ping ponged around my ribs. I doubled over and fell to my knees, my weapons clattering to the ground next to me as I clutched my stomach and ribs while gasping through the pain. When it faded a little I allowed myself to fall onto my side. I grunted in pain and rolled onto my back closing my eyes tight against the searing pain. 

“Well, fuck.” I said aloud to myself. So much for appreciation. Though I guess if I was in his position I wouldn't see myself in any other way. Every time something bad happened to them I was right there. It figures. For once I'm being paid to be the good guy, depending on which side of the line you stand on, and I'm still seen as the bad guy. I heard the door to the house open and close and the bright light of a flashlight began sweeping slowly back and forth across the open lawn, pausing briefly on the fallen giant who was crumbling very slowly into a pile of ash and bone. I heard them coming, searching for me and smiled when I realized it was Hobi and Jimin. Naturally. A few moments later they found me, slowing but not stopping. I kept my eyes closed and simply laid there. 

“Assassin?” Hobi said softly, dropping to his knees a few feet back. “Are you awake?” They waited a few moments and Jimin asked if Hobi thought I was dead. “I think she's asleep, Jimin-ah.” His Korean was soft and soothing. 

“If I was it would be a terrible idea to come this close.” They both jumped and I sat up on my elbows with a small wince that I couldn't catch. Hobi was watching me closely and Jimin was roving the light over me with wide eyes. I turned my face away from the bright light. “Get that light out of my face, Jimin.” I think he moved the light more from the shock of hearing his name than comprehension of what I said but he did move the light. I sat up too fast and had to take several slow, deep breaths to fight off the pain before speaking. “Why are you both out here?” Neither of them understood what I had said and Hobi just looked content to stare at me. I sighed and repeated myself in slow Korean I had to think out as I spoke.

“Neo wae yeogi issni (why are you out here)?” Jimin glanced over at Hobi, who was still staring at me. I looked directly at Hobi, locking eyes with him while repeating my question for a third time. He blinked at me a couple times, eyes roaming over my face before giving me a one word answer. 

“Shower?” I smiled after a moment and then laughed, immediately regretting doing so as pain lanced through my abdomen. I cut it short and nodded. I got on my knees and was bracing myself to stand when Jimin held his hand out to me. I didn't bother looking up at him, not wanting to see the look on his face as I took his offered hand. I wasn't too proud to accept the help when I needed it. His smile was small but genuine as I came to my feet with his help, clearly happy he'd been able to help in some small way. It was cute. I heard a clink and looked over to find Hobi gingerly handling the blades and guns I had dropped. I noticed his hesitation at picking up the bloody t-shirt and bent over to snatch it up right before his fingers touched it. While we were both bent over he and I shared a look before I stood and began moving toward the house. I let Hobi carry my weapons, hoping it would make them both feel safer. A few seconds later I was in the pristine, pale beige themed living room. Jungkook sat on the couch in pajama bottoms and nothing else, his dark hair was wet and the smell of a subtly masculine soap perfumed the air, legs crossed while he clicked absentmindedly through the channels. His eyes followed me the second I walked in as I bee-lined for the stairs going up to where I knew the bathroom was. Hobi asked something to which Jungkook laughed. 

“Ya. Assassin.” He casually called to me. I stopped with my foot on the bottom stair and looked over my shoulder in acknowledgment. “Hobi wants to know what you want him to do with your weapons.” I started to go up the stairs and called my answer back to him. 

“Tell him to put them down somewhere. I'll clean them in a little bit.” I saw Taehyung coming out of his room as I swept into the bathroom, closing the door behind me and locking it. 

The shower was scalding and wonderful. I cursed to myself when I went to wash my hair, realizing I had left my bag of things out in the woods and eyed the four bottles of shampoo and conditioner. Only four total? Seven men and only two different hair products? Interesting. I chose the bigger bottles, hoping my use would go largely unnoticed. It smelled strongly of at least a dozen different hair care chemicals with what would have been a lovely, slightly masculine scent if it wasn't chokingly strong in attempt at covering the chemicals. Though, to a human nose it would go unnoticed for the most part. There were however five different bottles of body wash. I picked one at random and began scrubbing myself with the rag I'd found in the closet. Fifteen minutes later I was scrubbed and as virtuously clean as I could be. Again, I was at a dilemma. What was I going to wear? I sighed and got as much water as I could out of my ass length hair before wrapping myself in the last clean towel. It was small around my curves, stopping just below my butt. Well, shit. Oh well. I opened the bathroom door and heard a round of laughter from downstairs in accompaniment of a loud video game. They were all downstairs. Awesome. I padded down the stairs, making sure that the gap of the towel was over my hip and not flashing anything else. As I walked down the stairs I felt the towel slit about half way up my hip but decided that ignoring it would draw less attention than trying to hold it closed. 

“Shillehamnida (excuse me-polite/formal).” Jungkook immediately looked over his shoulder without pausing the game and Jimin shouted in victory as the younger man's character was shot. Jimin turned around with a victorious smile on his face and I watched the smile slip away as his eyes widened. Yoongi and Namjoon who were sitting together pouring over papers both froze, Yoongi's eyebrows raising and Namjoon's mouth opening slightly as a look of shock filled his face. I scanned each of their faces and almost laughed. You'd think they'd never seen a woman before. I was particularly fond of Hobi and Taehyung's reactions, they looked like I'd just smacked them between the eyes with a hammer. Namjoon stood and cleared his throat. Yoongi was the first one to display any semblance of gentlemanly behavior by turning around in his chair. Jimin followed but I noticed him still glancing at me in the glass of the entertainment center. Namjoon seemed to be floundering for words as he slowly rounded the table and I smiled softly as I looked at the ground, trying not to see their faces anymore before I laughed. 

“I don't have any clean clothes and was wondering-”

“O-oh...” He mumbled. A small sound of surprise came from the right and I watched Jin stumble through the doorway to the kitchen. He turned around and walked right back into the kitchen, face flushed a deep shade of red. I smiled widely at how cute he was. Jungkook hopped over the back of the couch and grabbed my hand in his, going towards the stairs quickly. Namjoon's voice stopped him and the two had a rapid conversation in Korean, which the maknae apparently won because we were heading up the stairs. I should have pulled my hand free of his but I let the young man drag me behind him. He whisked me into his room and let go of my hand as he began fumbling through his luggage. I watched him with a smile playing over my lips. He was almost palpably nervous at having a nearly naked woman in his room. He turned and looked at me with a pack of boxers in his hands. 

“I uh...I don't know if I have any bottoms you'll be able to wear since you're...umm-” He stopped while he thought about how to say it, fingers toying with the plastic of the boxer packaging.

“Curvier in places you aren't?” I offered, to which he nodded too fast, obviously relieved. I laughed and walked towards him, stopping about a foot away and taking the package from his fingers. He swallowed hard as I opened the plastic. 

“Do you mind which one I pick?” I asked as I looked down at the various colors. There were four pairs left out of the six pack: red, blue, gray, and green. I looked up to find him staring down at the gap in my towel, eyes roving down the length of my legs. I waited patiently for his eyes to make their way back up. When he noticed me watching he flushed a light pink but didn't look away. Brave boy. I repeated my question and he shook his head.

“Aniyo. Go ahead.” 

I smiled and drew the green pair out, handing him the package back which he took distractedly as I took a step back before bending at the waist as little as I could to slip the boxers over my feet. Still the towel gaped open until certain goods were dangerously close to hanging out. Jungkook gasped and I heard his heart, which had already been beating fast, nearly triple in speed. I didn't mind him watching if he refused to be a gentleman. I'd been around far too long to let flashing a bit too much skin bother me. People are going to look, it's just instinct. I slid the thin material up, having to wriggle just a tad bit to get them over my hips. They clung tightly to my hips but had a tiny bit of give around the thighs. This boy had some thighs, which I was suddenly so very grateful for. 

When I looked back he handed me a black button down shirt which I dipped my head in thanks as I took. He could have given me a simple t-shirt but he had chosen the button down. I smiled as I gave him my back because clearly he wasn't going to. Was he a perve or was it because he didn't trust me? Probably a bit of both. I dropped the towel and had to stifle a laugh at the audible gasp followed by a swallow from behind me. I shrugged the shirt on and had to fight only a little to close the buttons across my breasts, which weren't big to me but were big by Korean standards. I didn't even try to button it over the swell of my hips, so the shirt gaped open from just above my belly button down. This time when I turned around he handed me a hairbrush. He watched me as I brushed my hair before it could dry, eyes occasionally flicking down to the flesh of my stomach and hips. He was an unabashedly bold young man for the most part and a part of me really liked that about him. Another part knew he was going to be trouble. I flipped my hair over and scrunched my curls so they wouldn't be flattened by the brushing then stood and handed him back the brush. 

“Goma woyo (thank you-friendly/informal).” He nodded his head, visibly making the effort to look at my face as opposed to my hair or stomach as he had been doing. 

“Cheonmaneyo (don't mention it/you're welcome).” I offered him a small smile and walked to the door. He beat me there, doing the only gentlemanly thing he had done the whole night by opening the door for me. I smiled wider and just let him. Curious fella this one. 

I wandered downstairs with Jungkook right behind me, choosing to ignore the scrutinizing stares of the other members. I found my weapons with a quick scan of the room and sighed as I realized I was going to have to go get my bag. I gathered my weapons and walked over to the door, figuring I had spent enough time making them uncomfortable. I heard a mumbled but rapid conversation between Namjoon and Yoongi as I pulled my boots on. I was halfway across the clearing when I heard the door open and close quickly. Someone was running to catch up with me and I heard the door open and close again. 

“Ya.” Yoongi's voice carried but fell just shy of a shout. I stopped and waited for him to catch up before walking again. He walked beside me until we reached the forest edge where he lightly grabbed my upper arm. He opened his mouth to say something but Namjoon spoke first. 

“Where are you going?” He called as he strode across the clearing. I smiled in annoyance. This man was really beginning to irritate me. 

“Better question, why are you here?” I glanced over at the shirtless Jungkook who shrugged apologetically. “Not that I'm not grateful. Just curious. You said you were busy.” I smiled and decided I liked this kid, which meant I needed to stay away from him. 

“I am, guarding you all.”

“You made it very clear that you don't do charity work. So, what are the parameters of the new contract on us?” Namjoon was as quick to catch on now as he had been before. He wore a cocky smile that said he thought he had me pegged, a haughty look that I suddenly wanted to smack off his face. 

“I was offered two contracts on you all.” He raised an eyebrow as if to say, 'So?' and I ground my teeth in irritation. “So, you have a protector until further notice.”

“I asked what the parameters were.” I raised an eyebrow and didn't much appreciate how he seemed to expect an answer when he demanded one but answered anyway. 

“The specifications of my contract are to do whatever necessary, using any and all means I deem fit to protect you from all comers until further notice.”

“Further notice meaning what exactly?”

“I said before it is not my job to ask questions but if I had to guess I'd assume 'further notice' means just that, Namjoon. And before you can ask, yes, that does mean that I could be protecting you today and gone tomorrow because I'm an assassin,” I leaned towards him with a cold smile, “and we're fickle like that.” I winked at him and turned to go into the woods and noticed that Yoongi had never let go of my arm, nor did he now. He wouldn't be able to see very well in the forest and yet he held on still. I raised an eyebrow but chose to ignore it. He was a grown man so whatever. Namjoon called to him but he waved his leader off and let me take him into the forest. Did these men really not know how dangerous it was to trust someone like me, or did they just not care. The tree I had been spending most of my nights in wasn't that far in since I had to be able to see the boys. I patted Yoongi's hand around my arm and he immediately let go.

“Yeogiiss-eo (stay here).” I left him standing in the dark still nodding while I walked around the base of the tree to where he couldn't see me and jumped up into the branches. Less than three minutes later I was back on the ground. I stopped and analyzed the small mint haired man who had placed so much trust in me that I didn't think I had yet to earn. He stood very passively in the dark forest exactly where I left him, already large eyes wide in an attempt to see. It seemed as if he was content to wait there for me, like he knew I wouldn't leave him standing there, that I would come back for him. I smiled and shook my head at the little fool before walking forward. I grabbed his wrist gently on the way past him and he just let me lead him with no hesitation. My eyes widened as I felt his wrist turn in my grip so that his fingers wrapped lightly around my wrist too. He never once stumbled. It was like since he believed so thoroughly in me, trusted me, he never hesitated and did exactly what I did without reservation. It was disconcerting. We cleared the forest edge and Namjoon stood from where he and Jungkook had sat down, watching for our reappearance. He bee-lined straight for Yoongi who I promptly let go and began walking away from them all to find a spot similar to my tree so that I had a good vantage. Yoongi and Namjoon began having a very controlled, for lack of a better word, debate over me. Namjoon was mad that he had gone into the woods with me and Yoongi was ignoring him saying that he should stop being a rude ass and invite me into the house to which the leader did not like. 

“You don't have to do that.” Jungkook, who had been following a short distance behind me, finally said. I liked that most of the time when he talked to me he tried to speak English.

“Do what?” I distractedly asked.

“Search for a place to camp with the best vantage point.” I stopped and turned to analyze him. He stopped too and looked right back. He seemed about as bothered by my role as an assassin as he did about not wearing a shirt or brazenly staring. 

“You seem very knowledgeable for someone so young.” And his vocabulary in English was pretty impressive. He shrugged.

“I play a lot of games.” I smiled.

“In English.” He nodded. 

“Only in English.”

“Games, GPS, do you set everything in English?”

“Ne. If I really want to play games and navigate, among other things, it forces me to learn.” I smiled wide.

“That's a very smart way of doing it.” He smiled and looked down at the ground for a moment before shrugging. 

“Rapmon taught himself by watching the American show 'Friends.' We spend too much time surrounded by English for it to not be useful to learn. And I had to take English while in school so-” He shrugged again, “use it or lose it, ya know?” I nodded.

“Must be frustrating though.”

“Sometimes.” I cocked my head with a look of disbelief to which he laughed, rubbed the back of his neck and looked away in response. “Okay, it's very frustrating but its not as bad now as it was at first.” 

“Of that I have no doubt.” Namjoon walked up behind Jungkook, talking as he moved. The younger turned to face him. The older seemed to be scolding him but Jungkook took it in stride, replying back in a much more respectful manner than he received. Jungkook spoke much faster in Korean than in English, as one could expect. The maknae suddenly turned to me with a smile that was obviously hiding some substantially harsher emotion. His eyes flicked down to the large bag in my hand as I kept shifting it. He held his hand out with an inquiring look on his face. 

“Can I carry that for you?” I quirked an eyebrow at that. The muscle damage to my back and ribs made holding a weight that wouldn't normally bother me quite an exercise in pain management. I shook my head but he had already leaned forward to grab it, his fingers wrapping around the handle in my hands, fingers brushing mine. I shrugged. Whatever. I let him take it and watched his whole body cant to the side for a second while he adjusted, eyes wide.

“Shit!” He hissed before hefting the bag up on his shoulder with a small grunt. “What do you have in here, assassin?” I laughed as Namjoon who realized he was being ignored piped up in rapid Korean again as Jungkook began walking at a brisk pace towards the house. 

“Don't be rude, hyung.” Jungkook called back to him. I caught Yoongi saying that I wasn't going to stay outside the whole time to Namjoon before I ignored both of them. I was more intrigued with watching the muscles of Jungkook's back flex and roll as he adjusted and walked with the weight of my bag. Yoongi ran ahead and opened the door for the younger. Right before I would have stepped through the door Namjoon blocked my path, a very pissed look thinning out the ripe plumpness of his lips. 

“Keep your hands to yourself,” He pointed his finger so close to my face that he almost poked my nose, “and keep your distance.” I stared for a moment before nodding my head just once.

“Fine.” I took a small step forward so that I was suddenly invading the hell out of his personal space. “Just a warning, stick your finger in my face like that again,” I could smell the light perfume of sweat on him as I leaned in just a bit more so that my words were spoken right in his ear, “I'll break it.” He jerked back from me enough to glare at me in shock and anger. He didn't respond well to threats. Good to know.

“Capisce?” He shoved me back from him with a scoff of disgust as he turned on his heel and walked inside, leaving me laughing in the doorway. 

I found a corner that was out of everyone's way and tried to ignore everything the young fools were doing and eventually they all returned the favor after I had to tell Jungkook, who was all too interested in dangerous stuff for my comfort, to go learn some more English. It took me almost an hour to clean and sharpen the blades and reload magazines for my guns. 

I stretched as I stood, extending my arms over my head and rolling my head to work the tensed up shoulder muscles. The muscles in my back and shoulders still burned like hell but I ignored it in favor of the itch at the back of my throat that I could fix. I noticed Jimin and Jin both watching me and smiled when Jungkook died on the game he was playing. Someone wasn't paying attention to what he was supposed to be doing. Hobi had casually been watching me off and on the whole time I had worked, so much so that I was getting much more accustomed to ignoring him already. I walked into the kitchen and leaned over the sink, wincing as my muscles protested. The water was cool and lovely as I drank it out of my cupped hand. I wet a paper towel and lifted my shirt to place it on the hot and swollen skin of my lower back. I was splashing my face when Jin came into the kitchen. He flicked on a dull yellow light that was above the sink and I heard him hiss a second before I remembered about my back being exposed. I thought the skin had offended him so I swore under my breath and reached back to pull the shirt back down. His long fingers gently stopped me and I turned my head to look at him.

“Naega bol su iss-eulkka (can I see)?” 

“Wae? I'm fine. Don't worry about it.” He ignored my question and didn't seem to understand my English and lifted the shirt higher. I just leaned more comfortably on the sink and let him do what he was doing. It was hard to communicate with someone who couldn't comprehend you. He kept making little hissing noises as he gently tickled his fingers over the tender skin. I caught the words black and skin in his whispered analysis to himself. It must have been worse than I thought. I wonder how hard I actually hit the things the giant had thrown me into that the damage was this bad. No wonder Jungkook had reacted like he had earlier when I dropped my towel. I stood and turned to face him with a casual smile, which did not take the look of horror out of his large eyes. Movement in the door to the kitchen drew my eye and I saw Jimin standing there with wide eyes, breath coming a little fast. He licked his lips nervously and walked slowly towards me. He held out a white cylinder to me and I took it. I rolled it in my hand as I looked down. Biofreeze. It made me smile at him. 

“I'm fine, guys, really. I've healed worse than this.” I don't know why I even said it when neither of them understood. When Jimin took the bottle back I thought he had actually understood for a moment, and then he walked around me while unscrewing the cap. He asked the same thing Jin had as his fingers trailed the hem of the shirt, knuckles ghosting along the skin just above my ass. I sighed but stepped to the side of the sink so I could lay my upper half more comfortably on the counter, which was hard considering that my hips and ribs were bruised as well. There was a moment of pause and then he gingerly lifted my shirt until half of my back was exposed. Jin left the room as Jimin began carefully rolling the gel applicator over my back. He was speaking to me in soft but fluid Korean that I couldn't really understand. I knew enough that I could discern that he was talking about the medicine and health, probably telling me what it was and did. The gel was cool and the cool mint feel of it drying on my skin felt great, even if I knew I didn't really need it I enjoyed the minimal relief it provided. It felt nice to have him take care of me. That thought snapped me out of the daze I had allowed his gentle touches and soothing voice to lull me into. I stood and turned, pulling my shirt down when he went too high up for comfort. 

“Goma woyo.” The slightly startled look on his face at my abrupt movement melted away into a positively lovely smile that was actually really fucking endearing. I couldn't help but smile back which is when I walked away. These boys. The night dwindled down after that and everyone except one was in bed by two. I listened to the scribbling pen of Yoongi as I wandered the house until he finally went to bed just before sunrise. 

I rummaged through my bag with a heavy sigh as I drew out my last pair of underwear and black jeans. I had no more shirts as they all tended to get ruined so I opted to continue wearing Jungkook's button down, putting on my only sports bra, the only bra that had made it through this last week, under it. I left the top couple of buttons of the shirt open to strain the material less since my rig would surely threaten the life of the poor buttons without the extra strain. The sports bra could pass for a low cut tank top so the only drawback was the amount of cleavage showing. I shrugged, figuring the jacket should cover it. I made a mental note to go shopping the next chance I had. 

After last night's unexpected visitor I realized I needed more armaments than I had originally expected and so I wore my special made rig meant to hold a sword almost as long as my arm down the spine with a gun under my left arm and a set of twenty throwing knives under the other. When it was all said and done a had twenty-four knives of varying sorts and three guns on my person. If I couldn't take care of whatever might come with this small arsenal we were fucked anyway. 

Only fifteen minutes after I finished dressing I heard the first stirrings amongst the boys and ten minutes later everyone, except Yoongi, was awake. Jungkook was the first one downstairs, still shirtless and attractive even with a serious case of bed head. He wiped the sleep from his eyes and raised his eyebrows as he finally saw me sitting on the couch. I hadn't put the jacket on yet so I watched his eyes catalog the weapons before he nodded slowly in appreciation and flopped down on the other side of the couch, turning his head to look at me. Jin had a hold of Namjoon's hand as he came down the stairs, dragging the leader behind him saying something about making something to wake grape head up. It was clear to me that Jin was a morning person whereas everyone else wasn't. Namjoon's walk was more like a sleepy shuffle as he grumbled in response to Jin who was jerked to a stop when his leader paused abruptly to stare at me. Jin eyed me for a second and offered me a shy smile before yanking Namjoon behind him into the kitchen. I laid my head back and listened to the bustle of everyone showering, packing and eating. Forty minutes later everyone was just milling around, waiting for the arrival of their manager. 

“You can't wear that.” I raised an eyebrow but didn't open my eyes at Namjoon's remark.

“If you're referring to the weapons I'll just remind you that they're a part of my job requirements and they will be covered. I can't just walk around looking like an assassin now can I.” He made a soft noise of frustration before I felt his fingers pluck at the hem of the shirt just over my breast.

“You can't wear this.” I did open my eyes then.

“Wae?” He frowned and glanced down at my cleavage before glaring at the wall behind me. 

“You're showing too much skin.” I glanced around me to see Jungkook sitting cross-legged on the floor eating a bowl of cereal while everyone else chatted in the kitchen. 

“I'm not Muslim or Korean. I think I'll be okay.” He ground his teeth but I ignored him as Hobi came into the room holding a half-eaten banana. He paused a few feet from Jungkook and I watched his eyes widen and mouth open slightly before he swallowed the mostly unchewed bite of banana in his mouth with a gulp, slapping his hand against his chest to help the bite go down. 

“Wau (wow)...” He said softly, absently sitting beside the bold maknae who was watching the stricken Hobi with a wide smile stretching his mouth.

“I know right.” He sounded like a child looking at his pile of presents on Christmas morning. Namjoon was saying something to me in Korean that I chose to ignore as I swept my curls over my shoulder and began to part them into three sections, ignoring the eyes of Hobi and Jungkook.

“I assume you're going to be traveling with us. So, you can't look like a slut or a murderer. You need to change and either put on makeup or wear this.” He chucked a black face mask at me. I palmed it calmly and stood up, tucking it into the pocket of my jeans. I guess I was too close to him now that I was standing because he backed up a step. 

“Let me remind you of something, Namjoon. I am not on your pay roll. I do not care what you think about me. You don't have to like or trust me, but you will respect me because I am the only thing standing between you all and utter devastation.” I took several steps toward him, letting him see the menace behind my next words, and he backed up. “So, you'd better watch how and what you say to me because the next time I have to school you the lesson will be much harsher than a verbal bitch slap.” I smiled at him unpleasantly and turned to walk back to my seat on the couch. Namjoon walked away without another word and I ignored the two men still staring at me until Hobi went back into the kitchen with the others and Jungkook came over and sat on the couch next to me. I turned my head as I finished tying my braid to see him watch me flick my hair over my shoulder. When I lifted my arms to adjust my hair over the hilt of the sword down my spine his eyes dropped down to my cleavage then down to the exposed skin of my stomach.

“You look dangerous.” I let my hands fall loosely into my lap and his eyes tracked the movement before trailing back up to my face as I spoke. 

“I am.” He raised a single eyebrow and nodded with a one-sided smirk. 

“Yes you are.” Taehyung trailed into the room just then and had a wide smile on his lips. 

“Rul joh-ah hamnida (I like it).” He said in that deep voice of his that I found so wonderful. He sat down where Jungkook had been, staring at me with his huge, mesmerizing eyes. 

“Me too.” Jungkook mumbled. I laughed at the balls on these two as I stood to look down at them both. Taehyung said something too fast in Korean for me to catch it but Jungkook did. He nodded and looked at me. “He said that with you looking like this no one is going to mess with us.” I smiled widely.

“That's a cute thought.” Jungkook shrugged eyes locked on the skin of my lower stomach and hips.

“Nothing human at least.” He said distractedly as he reached his hand over to run his fingers gingerly across the skin just above my right hip. I took a step back out of reach. 

“You'd be surprised at how foolish some people are.” He just nodded then pointed to my exposed skin with a raised eyebrow.

“That looks much better than it did last night.” I glanced down to find that he was right. I had forgotten all about the bruising on my hips and that they all would have seen it. I began tucking the shirt tails into my jeans to keep as much of my hips covered as possible and shrugged at him.

“In my line of work it's pretty beneficial to know methods to speeding up the healing process.”

“Yeah? Methods like what?” I folded my arms under my breasts since they were just big enough that crossing my arms over them was uncomfortable. Doing that also framed them a bit more which drew the attention of both men instantly. Taehyung looked away but Jungkook did not, of course. 

“Hopefully I will never have reason to use those methods on you or anyone else, Jungkook.” 

“Jeon or Kookie will work, if you don't mind.” And just like that it seemed he was willing to let the line of conversation drop, accepting my excuse. 

“Kookie,” I grinned and he smiled, “Cute.”

“I guess.”

“Don't like it?” He shrugged again.

“I'm impartial. It just stuck, you know?” I nodded and turned to carrot top.

“And you, Taehyung? I don't suppose you'd be too fond of me calling you carrot top.” Kookie laughed and shook his head which made Taehyung laugh too. “Glad I can amuse.” 

“Tae or V.” Taehyung said around a few remaining chuckles. 

“V and Kookie it is.” I heard a van pull up and everyone began filtering out of the kitchen. Namjoon stopped several feet away from me but stared directly into my eyes. 

“Put your jacket on and let me do the talking.” I did slip the jacket on but I just shook my head.

“I will handle my own talking, thank you.” And then the knock sounded and all that could be heard was the nervous shuffling of everyone except Yoongi, Kookie and V. I think I'm going to like those three. Shit...

&#&#&#&#&#&#&#&#&#&#&#&#&#&#&#&#&#&#&#&#&#&#&#&#&#&

A/N- Alright so the first chapter is done. I ask that you all be forgiving of the Korean I slipped in there. I have been trying to teach myself how to speak it and haven't been able to get Hangul down enough to use it so I put the phonetic version in to distinguish between Korean and English. However, it is really hard to translate some of what I want to say because it doesn't translate right or there are simply too many bloody versions of how to say the same thing. So, the Korean is chock full of errors I am sure. If anyone has any definite corrections drop them in the comments. It's a tricky process lol. I hope you enjoyed the first chapter and hopefully I'll be able to update for you soon! Annyeong!

DISCLAIMER- There will eventually (In like another chapter or two) be heavy smut in this story. There will be a gooood bit of male on male mash-ups. Please mind the rating for both graphiclly sexual and incredibly violent/gory content. The main character is an assassin so, the warning shouldn't be necessary but don't say I didn't offer you one.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N- Hello again, ladies and gents! I know it has been a while but my chapters are quite lengthy and take time to both write and edit on top of maintaining/fulfilling other obligations...*sigh* I really wish I could just write but unfortunately, I cannot. Thank you to those who commented and left behind kudos for the last chapter! I really appreciate it. Without further ado, welcome back to my dream world. ^-^ Enjoy!
> 
> Disclaimer- Violence, Gore, Foul language, sexual innuendo/scenarios...I don't own anything BTS related except the BTS in my dreams and my fangirl merch.

“What did you say to him?” 

I sighed softly and rolled my eyes behind my closed lids as I once again ignored Namjoon's question. My head lulled slightly against the seat with the jostle of the large van as we made our way to the airport. 

“Answer me, assassin.” I rolled my head to the right and opened my eyes to stare blankly at him. I both felt and saw Hobi staring at me and Jungkook leaning closer in behind me. 

“I thought I had already established that I am not on your payroll, grape-head. Therefore, the only thing I HAVE to do is keep your ungrateful ass alive.” 

“Hyung.” Jungkook said softly in warning all too close behind me. Namjoon flicked his eyes toward the maknae before going back to glaring at me. Whatever. It made no never-mind to me. Of course, he ignored Jungkook's advice.

“Ya!” His voice rang loud and clear in the confined space startling the crap out of everyone but Yoongi and Jungkook. I sat forward with my elbows on my knees, hands hanging loosely between them, bringing my face close enough that he almost fell out of his seat trying to get away from me. I watched as he scrambled to collect his cool again, sitting as close to the edge of his seat as he could without falling off again. 

“Do you really want to know?” 

“I wouldn't ask if I didn't.” 

“Alright. I crept into his mind and magically recalibrated it so that he wouldn't have a problem with me being your bodyguard or ask any unwanted questions.” 

He stared at me blankly for a few moments before sneering at me and saying something rapid in Korean that I was absolutely certain was unpleasant by the way Hoseok's jaw dropped and his head whipped towards his leader. Jin leaned over the seat in front of his leader and smacked his hand into Namjoon's shoulder with a loud, and satisfying, thwap. Namjoon jumped so hard he actually did slip off the seat and onto the floor, hand instinctively flying to his wounded shoulder as he stared up at Jin with wide eyes equally pained and surprised. Jin was merciless as he bent over the seat and raised his hand to hit the man, who covered his head and tucked his knees against his chest, several more times, punctuating the loud silence in the car with the even louder sounds of skin on skin, cursing him out in incredibly rapid Korean. I could hear Namjoon protesting loudly as I watched the scene before me in amusement while everyone else looked absolutely stunned. Clearly nothing like this had ever happened before. Jin pulled back, standing on his knees on the seat while glaring down at Namjoon, eyes wild with some strong emotion that I was betting he'd earned from experience. His lovely face was flushed with anger, full lips ripe and unbelievably red with the rush of it all as he obviously chastised the man before him. 

“Neoui bil-eo meog-eul ibbogo (Watch your fucking mouth)!” He didn't yell it, instead the words came out as a serious warning in tones even I would consider dangerous if directed towards me. I watched it all with a raised eyebrow, curious about what Namjoon had said to get such a reaction from one of his own members. Namjoon had pushed himself as far into the front of the seat he'd fallen out of as he could, staring cautiously at the man before him. He turned just enough as he pointed at me over his shoulder while saying something in very rapid, submissive Korean that sounded like an excuse. One that apparently frustrated Jin more.

“Aish!” He hissed as he raised his hand like he'd hit Namjoon again and leaned over the seat to do just that. Namjoon scrambled to cover himself but V stood on his knees beside his hyung, gently grabbing the shoulder of Jin's striking hand.

“Jin-hyung!” He lightly shouted. The older man froze in his tracks, turning his head to the younger after a moment. I saw V swallow hard under the attention but he raised his head slightly as he gently tried to pull Jin towards him without success. “Chungbun hae (That's enough).” 

Jin stared at the carrot haired man for a space of heartbeats before he let his arm drop back to his side, nodding his head. He cast one more glare at Namjoon before allowing V to turn him back around in his seat. Namjoon smoothed his hands through his mussed hair after a few minutes of silence as I heard V trying to talk Jin into a better mood before getting back into his seat. I wasn't sure if he was staring at Jin or if he was trying to go unnoticed until we got out of the van. As everyone grabbed bags and bustled about it became clear that the leader was indeed following Jin's movements. He looked so much like the injured puppy that I almost laughed and might have if I didn't see the glassy shine of tears in his eyes that amplified the genuine hurt within those lovely orbs that had only ever held fascination and rage towards me. He cast his eyes down and slipped sunglasses on as we made our way towards the airport. The man had been nothing but an asshole towards me but in that moment I wished I had stopped the incident in the car. Damn. 

I physically shook my head and forced myself to ignore the emotional and slightly physical slump the whole thing had put Namjoon in as I was joined by four other guards right before we walked through the doors to the airport. The managers, production and crew members flowing behind and around us talked comfortably but I didn't miss the curious questions and stares about the new woman traveling with BTS. The guards were especially cautious in a way that none of the other people in our party, who didn't know what to look for, noticed. Two of the guards moved slightly back and two moved forward more so that I was being flanked from both sides. I smirked slightly as the man I could only assume to be the lead of this little operation stepped up next to PD Nim and quietly and professionally spoke. His words were lost to the hustle and whir of the airport, that was loud even this early in the morning, but I was positive he was confirming who I was. He finally nodded and slipped right back into his position. The men still flanked me, so despite the confirmation they clearly didn't like or trust me. That was fine, I didn't have much faith in them either. We got through customs easy enough, once all the guards showed the security their papers saying we were legally allowed to carry what we were carrying. I knew when I opted to not go through the metal detectors when the other four men did that they would be suspicious of me but I was carrying some things that were probably illegal, regardless of my special permissions. The customs security didn't bat an eye but the four man guard that was accompanying me did. 

I shrugged casually when the leader of the guard caught my eye and offered him a small smile before walking ahead of them towards the members who had already made it through and were waiting. Rapmon wouldn't even look in my direction but both Hoseok and V were watching me intently, Jungkook was doing a good job of pretending he wasn't watching but I knew by the way his eyes clocked the tension between me and the other guards that he was well aware of what was going on. When I stepped in front of the group of boys, drawing them to a halt the guard all stiffened. I held out my hand and told them in Korean to give me their tickets. No one questioned me but Kookie smiled at me coyly, making it a point to brush his fingers against mine as he handed over his ticket. I smiled in return but shook my head as I turned and walked off to the ticketing counter. My smile widened when I realized one of the guards had peeled off to go with me. Oh yeah, their leader certainly didn't trust me. 

“Naega neoleul doul su-iss-eo (How may I help you)?” I smiled then quickly frowned as I responded in broken Korean. I finally got out that I wanted to exchange the coach tickets in my hand for first class tickets. 

“Modu (All of them)?” Her voice was very bland as she spoke, eyes locked on the seven tickets in my hand. 

“Ye.” She started shaking her head as she rolled her eyes back up to mine. “Naneun hana salyeogo (And I'd like to buy one).” 

“Mianhe-” I held up a hand to silence her and dug my wallet out of my pocket to fish out my bank card and flash it at her in all it's platinum glory. 

“₩12,000,000 right now for eight first class tickets.” I was tired of playing this game already and didn't care to translate. “There's another ₩1,500,000 in it for you if you don't try to lie to me and tell me there aren't any openings.” I pointed over my shoulder at the flight log that was clearly advertising flights with open seats and how many were available in each class. I looked back at her open mouthed look of disbelief with a smile. “It's more than reasonable, aniyo?” She quickly took the tickets out of my hand and not five minutes later I had eight new tickets in my hand, one registered to one of my many alias'. I slipped my card back into my wallet and slid 1.5 million won across the counter for her with an incredibly flirtatious smile and a wink. 

“Goma wayo.” She flushed bright pink in a heartbeat, which was entirely too cute, but she boldly stopped me from pulling my hand back by wrapping her thin fingers around my hand and turning it over. I watched her curiously as she wrote her phone number and name on my palm, rolling her eyes up to flash me a shy smile before tucking a strand of hair behind her ear that hadn't yet fallen from her perfect ponytail, blush deepening as she bowed and wished me a good flight and safe travels. I slid the money she still had yet to touch closer to her, inviting her to take it. She reached her hand out to take the money and I took it lightly in my own, placing a lingering kiss on the knuckles while keeping her lovely eyes locked with my own. She flushed an even darker shade of red and began fanning herself while I stood, offering her one last smile before turning around. I ignored the distrustful yet curious gaze of the guard who had accompanied me and almost laughed at the faces of Kookie, V and Hoseok as I walked back toward them. 

“Mwo-” Hoseok stopped mid-question and made a small choking noise as he eyed his new ticket.

“What did you do to that woman?” Kookie asked as he eyed me instead of his ticket. I laughed and shrugged, gesturing them all forward to find the gate, ignoring all their questions of why I had upgraded them. When we found the gate the leader of the guards grabbed my upper arm in a firm grip, pulling me to a stop. I glanced down at his hand on me then back up to him. I noticed that Jungkook, whom I had been walking only slightly behind had stopped. He was too observant for his own good, and probably mine too. I looked into the slightly taller man's eyes with not an ounce of any emotion and his eyes flinched at the same time as his fingers tightened. 

“Why did you do that?” His English was flawless, despite his very Japanese physical appearance. 

“Do what?” He gestured back over his shoulder to the ticketing counter in the distance. I didn't bother looking since I knew what he was mad about. 

“Which part exactly? The part where I flirted with the woman or when I upgraded the tickets? Because one was certainly more entertaining than the other?” His fingers dug in a bit more in a motion I suspected was entirely subconscious. 

“Our tickets are for coach, not first class.” I shrugged. 

“And?” I heard his teeth grind together as he leaned in so that he spoke right beside my ear, breath tickling across my skin. 

“Why are you doing this?”

“Doing what?”

“Being a bitch.” I laughed abruptly enough that he jerked back, the sound much too close to his ear. I looked into his startled eyes. 

“You don't trust me. That's fine, its your job to do just that. However, I am here to guard them as much as you, the only difference is that I will be with them all the time, not just at airports and public venues. We didn't have to make this a pissing contest if you would have backed off a little.” He scowled deeply at me.

“Then you did all this because I don't trust you which is, as you said, an occupational hazard?” I shook my head.

“No. I did this because it makes my job easier if I don't have to climb over civilian laps to protect my charges. Showing you and your men that I won't be treated as less than I am is just a benefit.”

“Less?” He shook his head. “What you are is dangerous. It doesn't take a genius to figure that out if they know what to look for. To top it off I have never heard of or seen you before and the bodyguard world is a small one, even if you are an international agent like me.” I smiled because I liked this guy. “I don't like things I can't pinpoint.”

“You are human, that's a given.” He frowned but ignored my remark. 

“I don't like you.”

“Well that's a shame because I like you.” I shrugged the arm he still had in his grasp. “But if you don't let me go that inclination might change for the worst.” His eyes narrowed and his fingers tightened as he jerked me a little closer so that I was practically leaning on him. 

“Was that a threat?”

“A warning. And the only one I'll issue.” His eyes flicked over every detail of my face, which I knew showed him absolutely nothing. He released my arm a finger at a time until I stood incredibly close, but untouched. I smiled at him and slid my hand into my pocket to take out my wallet. He tensed and watched every movement. I held my bank card out to him. He stared at it for a moment before glaring up at me. 

“What are you doing?” I shrugged.

“Offering you the opportunity to flirt with the utterly adorable girl behind the ticketing counter.” I waggled the card at him. “Take it and buy you and your men first class tickets. Or don't, and sulk in coach. I won't be bothered either way.” He raised eyebrows at me then. 

“You can't possibly have that much money to throw away.”

“I choose where I throw my money, thank you. Are you going to take it or not?” He gingerly took the card between two fingers and I let go. 

“The pin is 3121, you'll need it for a transaction of this caliber.” I told him as I went to walk away towards the group of men, all of whom were watching the exchange. 

“Hey.” I stopped and turned just enough to see him. He wagged my card at me. “You are awfully trusting for someone with so much money. Aren't you scared I'll take your information.” I smiled devilishly and shook my head. 

“No. I'm not.” The members of BTS and I were already in our first class seats and we were five minutes from departure before the four guards joined us. The stewardess instructed them to sit and buckle up until we were in the air. Almost twenty minutes later the seat belt sign went off and I unbuckled and stood to survey the ever spacious, and nearly empty first class cabin. There were only two others in the cabin with us, much preferable to hundreds, and one of them was already asleep by the tell-tale sounds of their light snores. The other was a young teenager girl who had headphones in and was bopping to some very loud and obnoxious Korean metal, paying the rest of the world no mind at all. The guard leader came over to me where I was pacing around the self-serve bar, eyeing the drinks available.

“Here.” He said as he slapped my card down on the bar in front of me. I raised my eyebrow as I looked at him. 

“You're welcome.” I said sarcastically as I rolled a bottle of Crown Royal between my palms, tempted to partake. 

“I want to know what you're carrying that you didn't want to go through the metal detector.” I smiled as I pretended to read the label on the smooth glass bottle. 

“Oh yeah?” 

“Yes.” I grabbed a glass and poured a mouthful into it, tossing it back and swishing it slowly before swallowing it, savoring the burn. I rounded the bar, plopping the glass on the smooth wood with a small tap as I inserted myself between him and the bar, leaving only a few inches between us. I raised my arms and threaded my fingers together on the top of my head, spreading my legs and leaning on the bar in invitation for him to frisk me. I watched his eyes immediately glance down at my breasts, made very visible by the straining of the shirt. I smiled but straightened my face before he could see it. 

“Well? You going to frisk me or would you prefer I strip?” His eyes widened as he looked back into my own and his tongue flicked out in a nervous gesture to wet his lips. 

“You don't have a care in the world do you?” I shrugged awkwardly in the position I was in. 

“I do. About some things. Why? Should I be concerned?” He shook his head.

“Take your jacket off.” I heard the young girl begin to snore and smiled as I slipped the leather off with a sigh, letting it hit the floor. His eyes widened as he saw the gun under my left arm and the throwing knives under my right. I heard a soft whistle of awe from one of the other guards as the man in front of me eyed me cautiously while licking his lips. “Anything else?” I smiled.

“You tell me.” He eyed me for a moment before grabbing my hands in his and turning me around to place them flat on the bar. He made a small sound of surprise as he saw the blade down my spine. I felt his fingers trace it before he kicked my legs further apart and pushed me roughly forward so that my body was splayed for his search. He lifted my braid and ran his fingers cautiously through my hair, checking behind my ears then down my neck. He was very thorough, finding the knives on my forearms, the switchblade tucked into my boot and the gun at my back and ankle easily. He chose to lean over me, pressing his front against my back to speak in my ear. I had been listening to his heart race faster and faster as his hands very thoroughly and maybe a bit too slowly searched everywhere, so I wasn't surprised at all when his voice sounded just a bit breathy. 

“Did I miss anything?” I turned my head, feeling his nose brush my cheek as I moved. 

“Yes.” He may have been a bit touchy but he had still been a gentleman in that he had opted to skip over searching my breasts. His mistake, and one that might have cost someone their life were I getting paid to do something different. I turned around and he didn't move, so consequently my body rolled against his. I wonder if he even realized what he was doing. He did move back a few inches when I tipped my head back to look up at him. I guess the temptation I saw in his eyes as they locked onto first my lips then my eyes was too much. 

“I don't suppose you'd just tell me what I missed and where it is?” He licked his lips again as his eyes drifted across my body, trying to discern what exactly he could have missed. I grinned and slowly shook my head.

“Now where's the fun in that?” He frowned and I shrugged. “What? I'm not allowed to enjoy this? We've got a long flight ahead of us, I think I'll take my enjoyment wherever I can find it.” He grabbed my hips firmly in his hands and I watched as he crouched in front of me. I flattened my palms on the bar and leaned back to steady myself as he slipped his hand between my thighs, grabbing my left thigh in a tight grip and jerking my legs open. I couldn't help the small noise that came as a result. His head drooped a bit and I watched him take a deep, steadying breath as he slid his hands down to my ankles. I had to look away from him as he slowly worked his hands up my legs, digging his fingers in lightly along the way so that it felt almost like a massage. 

I found myself staring into the startled eyes of Hoseok, who was watching the man in front of me very intently. Jin leaned over and tried to cover Kookie's eyes who swatted his elder away with affectionate but annoyed motion's, not looking away. I swallowed hard at the glint in his eyes as he flicked his gaze from the man on his knees in front of me up to my eyes. Yoongi watched with a curiosity that was almost comical. I gasped as the guard leader suddenly gripped my ass and jerked my hips forward. I looked down at him, his face dangerously close to very intimate parts, eyes rolled up to look at me as he slid his hands into my back pockets then out and up. I was once again fully focused on the man before me and smiled as I realized I didn't even know his name. 

“You know, I usually know a man's name before he gets this hands on.” He smiled and I fought off a shiver as he slipped his pointer finger into the band of my jeans just above my ass crack, sliding it slowly along the skin, following every dip of my body until his fingers came to a stop at the button in front. He hadn't done that last time. He slipped his fingers deeper into my pants as he gripped the band and used it to pull himself to his feet. I closed my eyes then as I felt his fingers entirely too close to home. He continued his search upward until his knuckles brushed my breasts. I felt him hesitate for a moment, eyes flicking up to mine as if for permission. I saw in those ink black pools his desire and knew he was drowning. I didn't say yes or no, I just waited and that was all the invitation he needed. He cupped my breasts, kneading as he slid his hands along them, drawing my breath a little faster. I felt movement and glanced behind the man groping me to find Hoseok standing, hands balled up in fists at his sides as Rapmon wrapped an arm around his shoulders in an attempt to hold back the red head's anger. I turned my head away to try and hide the look on my face and sighed as his hands brushed across my nipples. 

“Getting closer.” I whispered, uncertain of how my voice would sound. He took a small step closer as he trailed his fingers across the top of my sports bra. 

“Where could you possibly be hiding it?” I turned my head to him and found our faces so close that our noses brushed, breath mingling. 

“Sir?” One of his subordinates behind him, the younger one, was cautiously trying to break up whatever was happening between us. He ignored him but the much older one who had looked like a long-time loyal friend spoke up.

“Rin. What are you doing? Maintain your professionalism, fool.” I watched him try to reel himself in as he repeated his question, fingers still absently toying with my bra. 

“Find it, if you dare...Rin.” I let his name roll off my tongue and you'd think I'd just grabbed his cock or something from the look on his face. He slipped his hand into my bra to cup my left breast and I fought to keep my hands to myself. No matter how large and hot his hands had felt through the clothes they were so much hotter on my bare skin. He moved to my other breast and I almost moaned for him when his fingers trailed over my taught nipple. His eyes widened and he bit his lip as he finally found what he had searched so long and hard for. 

“Fuuuuuck-” He groaned softly under his breath as he pulled the stiletto knife from between my breasts. The scent of his lust almost quadrupled and he turned abruptly away from me to slap the knife down on the bar and flop onto one of the stools. The older man came over and picked it up, examining it before glaring first at me then down at Rin. 

“I'm glad to know that you weren't just groping her.” Rin glared up at the older man before standing. 

“I'm more professional than that, Takashi. And I'll remind you that while you have me in age I am your superior.” Takashi bowed slightly at the waist and put the stiletto down on the bar, backing away. Rin glanced back over to me where I stood just as he'd left me. He licked his lips.

“Are you satisfied now?” He smiled and stood, bending to pick my jacket up. He leaned into me and spoke softly in my ear. 

“Not nearly.” I smiled and turned away so he couldn't see it as I slipped on my jacket and poured myself another drink. There was a commotion over to the left with the boys. I sat down on one of the stools and calmly sipped my drink while assessing the damage of my little display with Rin. Hoseok was being held in his seat by the hands of Jungkook, who massaged his shoulders yet still had eyes only for me. Rapmon knelt in front of him and spoke in hurried tones more rapidly than I could catch on. Jimin was talking to Yoongi who was absently responding while keeping up with what was going on with Hoseok. I guess my actions, or maybe Rin's, had offended him. I shrugged and slammed the rest of my drink, desperately wanting another without wanting to look like a bad guard. 

The hours on that plane dragged by after the first twenty minutes I'd spent with Rin. I fluctuated back and forth between pacing the cabin and sitting in various chairs/stools. I had sat in almost every seat and was back at the bar before someone came over to talk to me, yet they had all been watching, hardcore staring for a select few. I was sipping another drink when Hoseok slid onto the stool beside me. I offered him the bottle by sliding it to him. I thought he was going to decline but instead he reached over and took my glass, pouring more from the bottle into it before taking a big gulp. I raised my eyebrow as he coughed a couple times, sliding my glass back to me. He was obviously still bothered by what had happened between Rin and I earlier so I was ready when he asked just what I thought he would. 

“Wae geuleon jis-eul hangeoya (Why did you do that)?”

“Which part?” He seemed to flounder for words for a moment.

“Wae geu salam-i neol manjige hangeoya (Why did you let him touch you like that)?” I shrugged and responded in Korean.

“Because it didn't bother me. And I liked it.” His eyes widened to the point where I thought they might fall out of his head.

“Mwo-” He shook his head. “Aniyo, Wae?” I sighed.

“If I must give you a lesson I will. You see, what happens when an attractive man so scandalously touches a woman, who doesn't conform to or give a fuck about strict societal expectations, the biological side of things comes into play, hormones take over and you can choose to fight them or yield.” I leaned into him a bit. “Sometimes I like to fight, sometimes I yield. It depends on which is more fun.” I said the last in Korean whereas I'd said the previous in English, which is why I'm sure he had no idea what the fuck I was talking about. He may not have understood but Rin certainly did and he was damn near in tears in one of the seats behind us. Hoseok stared at me with a penetrating glare, as if he were trying to figure me out to the finest detail. 

“You are a...strange woman.” He finally said in slow and deliberate Korean as I was pouring myself another glass. I laughed into my drink as I nodded.

“You have no idea.” But he might soon. 

*******************************************

1 plane ride, 2 trains, 1 fan sign and concert and 2 weeks later

I sat cross-legged on the ground outside of the secluded house I had gone out of my way to find. The last week had been a cluster of non-stop movement. The concert had been a hell of an experience, revealing difficulties in security even I had not anticipated. Not even the fan sign was that bad. I sighed deeply, looking up at the dimly shining stars above before taking a drag off my hand rolled cigarette. I felt the exhaustion of it all weighing down around my shoulders and wondered how long I was to do this. I hadn't slept for more than an hour at a time for more than a week and a half and the toll on my body was substantial. I winced as my gun dug into my stomach when I shifted my weight. I lifted my shirt and adjusted the gun over the bandage around my hips and waist. Blood stained the cloth, having seeped through after all the movement and I sucked my teeth at it all while shaking my head. I needed to feed but I had to get away from them without raising suspicion, particularly the suspicion of Yoongi and Namjoon. They were hard men to fool. 

The door behind me slid open and I wasn't surprised when Jungkook stepped out, still laughing at one of his hyung's shenanigans. I fixed my shirt so that the bandage was once again concealed as he casually folded himself next to me. Of all of the men he was the one most comfortable with me. I often wondered if he was truly comfortable or if he was fascinated by the very real game-like associations between the reality I had brought them and the ones he loved to lose hours to developing carpal tunnel.

“Why do you always sit outside?” I shrugged, taking a drag from my hand-rolled and watched his eyes narrow on the brilliant flare of the ember. “That's a very unhealthy habit you know.” I laughed out a puff of smoke that I casually fanned away from him as I nodded. He smiled slightly but continued to watch me smoke. “If you tried to be more social they would like you more.” 

“It's not my job to get you guys to like me.” 

“O-ho! She speaks to me!” I smiled, turning my head to the left like I was looking out into the night so he didn't see it. Kookie had a tendency to make me smile often, something I tried not to let him know or indulge in myself. When I turned back he had cocked his head to the side and was slightly frowning at me. “Why do you do that?” 

“Mwo?” I asked. He just pointed at me.

“That. Why do you try to hide your smile?” His English was much better than most of them and I enjoyed that I didn't have to translate what he was saying with my minimal knowledge of Korean. I deflected his question with one of my own.

“Why do you spend so much effort cozying up to an assassin?” He shrugged and smiled coyly.

“The logical answer is that the best survival tactic is to make myself indispensable to the one defending me.” I fought off a smile.

“And the illogical answer?” He rolled his lower lip in and sucked on it while turning his head away to look off into the darkness, it couldn't have possibly left him with too much to stare at since this would appear too dark to a human. He never answered my question and I didn't ask it again, but I wanted to. A larger part of me than I was comfortable with was just as curious about him as he was of me. I contented myself with watching him in between drags and I could feel him occasionally watching me too. 

“Widow.” I looked directly at him to find him staring right at me in return. 

“What is that supposed to refer to?”

“You.” I cocked my head curiously.

“Do I look like a widow to you?” His face was blank as he shrugged.

“I have no idea. That's the point.” I frowned. 

“I don't get it.” He smiled sadly.

“No. You wouldn't.”

“Care to elaborate?” He lifted his knees to his chest and rested his cheek on them as he looked at me. 

“Two weeks. You've been with us for two weeks and we know about as much of you now as we did when you first showed up. You haven't even given us your name. Every time we've asked you've blown it off.”

“Why is having a name so important to you?”

“How is it not to you? You're content to be called assassin?” 

“Yes.” He shook his head.

“And as intriguing as that is it is also very frustrating.” 

“Wae?”

“Because-” He stopped and frowned, lifting his head to look out into the trees again as he apparently thought about why he was so bothered, something he clearly hadn't stopped to think about before now. “I wouldn't be able to stand having everyone call me Idol. It's just too...impersonal. Too cold.” He stopped for a moment, eyes going wide. “I suppose that would be why though, wouldn't it.” He mumbled to himself under his breath. He looked at me then. “Assassin is a title, not a name.”

“And.”

“And an assassin is what you are, not who you are. You do know that, right?” I blinked at him in silence for a few moments, taken aback by his words. I cleared my throat and stood, brushing blades of grass off of me as I looked down at him. 

“An assassin is all I am, Jungkook.” 

“Ani. I don't believe that. There is more to you than you let on”

“So, based on that belief you've decided to call me Widow. Why Widow?” It was his turn to stand. He looked at me and shrugged with a small smile. 

“A name means something to me. If it truly doesn't mean anything to you then you shouldn't mind what I call you. So, it doesn't matter why.” He winked at me then turned to go back inside. I watched him go and was left not knowing how exactly to feel about what Kookie had just said to me. 

“The little-” The door opened again and this time I was surprised to see Yoongi poke his head out. He looked down at the ground then up to me again, clearly shy or embarrassed about something. 

“Jin told me to tell you to come in and get something to eat. He made dinner.” Yoongi jumped and looked back over his shoulder at Jin who had slapped his back and was staring at him in a very accusing way. Yoongi sputtered for a moment before angrily shrugging it off. 

“Whatever. I tried.” He muttered as he walked past Jin who was staring at him as a parent might look after a petulant child. Jin shook his head with a sigh and stepped out of the sliding door. 

“I made dinner.” He said in English. 

“I heard.” He nodded and gestured into the house.

“Have some?” I smiled softly at his broken English and shook my head getting ready to protest but stopped cold when Jin grabbed my one hand in both of his. My hand suddenly looked very small. “Please. You don't look good. Not healthy.” He gestured with one of his hands at my skin. “So pale.” I was shocked at the odd level of concern but as I stared into his large eyes I couldn't find anything that said he wasn't absolutely sincere. 

I don't know why I let him do it but I let him walk backwards with my hand in his, letting him take me into the house. When he realized I wasn't going to protest he turned to face forward, but never let go of my hand. Everyone was already sitting around the table laughing and talking boisterously. Namjoon glared down at my hand in Jin's and I could almost feel the distrust that one might mistake for hatred. It wasn't his eyes that made me pull my hand out of Jin's though. It was Kookie's. There was a small, knowledge in his eyes that curved those pretty lips oh so slightly into an almost arrogant smile. He ducked his head and took the bowl being offered to him to begin shoveling food onto his plate. I slid my hand out of Jin's when he looked away and jumped slightly when his big hands gripped both of my shoulders, squeezing lightly in a gesture of comfort. 

“Sit.” He said as he gestured to the seat next to, who else, Jungkook. “Eat.” He said, moving to the other side of the table. 

I cleared my throat and walked to my seat. Jungkook passed me the bowl without a word as he accepted another one from Yoongi. I sat there and watched the shenanigans between the lot of them as they laughed and passed around food. Everyone ate and merrily chatted away, Jin getting excessively loud a couple of times to imitate an outrage I was certain he didn't truly feel. Jimin fed V a bite of food from his plate, despite the fact that V had the exact same thing on the plate in front of him. Everyone carried on as if I wasn't there, handing me food and drink, occasionally looking at me but never speaking. Everyone but Jungkook, who surprised me by sliding his large hand onto my knee and squeezing gently as if he didn't already have my attention. I turned to look at him and found him closer than I had expected.

“So you really aren't going to tell us your name, eh?” I smiled and rolled my eyes.

“You're incorrigible.” I said as I grabbed his hand and put it back on his own leg, getting a soft laugh in return.

“And you're evasive.”

“That's what I do.” His smile dimmed for a second then it got broader. 

“And yet you're sitting here with us, sharing a meal, which is something you never do.” 

“So what. Why are you making a big deal out of this?” He laughed and I watched him lean in to me. His lips tickled the fine hairs along the soft skin of my ear as he spoke gently.

“Careful...Assassin. Your mask is slipping.” My heart pounded against my ribs as he pulled back enough for me to look into his face from less than two inches away. His eyes glanced down then back up and I couldn't help but watch as his tongue flicked along his lower lip. I pushed my chair back and watched him sit back and watch as I stood. The smile on his face widened as if he had absorbed the one I hadn't even been aware I was wearing until he stole it. I turned away and left the room, ignoring the looks of Hoseok and Namjoon and grinding my teeth at Jungkook's satisfied peal of laughter that punctuated my exit. 

I paced outside with my eyes shut while smoking yet another hand-rolled. The mild high from the smoke wasn't helping me fight back the fangs that were trying to make their presence known. My stomach cramped hard and growled loudly. I had to hunt, sooner rather than later. I had been planning on waiting to hunt until after they went to bed but I realized I might not make it that long. I cringed as I heard someone coming out again. The wind carried the always tantalizing smell of Hoseok towards me and my stomach growled again, this time loud enough for Hoseok to hear it and painful. 

“Did you not eat enough?” He asked me in Korean. 

“It isn't that.” He didn't ask me again. Instead he was waiting for me to turn around, the fact that he stood directly in the line of the path I had been pacing with an expectant look told me he'd been watching me. I must have been too distracted if I had missed that. Yep, I needed to hunt. How could I be expected to guard them if I was this easily distracted? 

“What did Jungkook say to cause this much anger?” I stopped moving, having adjusted my path, a fact Hoseok noticed with a frown. 

“I am not angry with him.”

“You lie.” He said in English. That stopped me and I looked him over slowly, cataloging the way his hair floated around in various directions, the shirt as it billowed, showing the fine muscles just underneath as it hugged him close in the wind. I swallowed hard and shook my head as I'd caught myself looking at the large pulse in the side of his neck. 

“I do lie, yes. When I need to.” I responded in English. I'd found myself speaking in whatever language these boys led with, so consequently I was slowly but surely picking up more Korean. 

“Why do you need to?” Back to Korean. I shrugged and just stared at him for a handful of moments before he spoke again. “Why can't you answer the question?”

“Why do you expect simple answers for incredibly complex questions?” 

“Why complicate things further by hiding, even if it's difficult?” I fought off the shock at the look of what I'd only be able to accurately call the look of a man who knew you were hiding much more than you were showing and saw potential regardless, a look I never would have thought to see from any of them, let alone Hoseok. I shook my head as I forced a smile. 

“I won't play to your inquisition.” I said in English and turned away to begin walking the perimeter of the house. I wasn't surprised when I heard him begin walking behind me. Why were these men so damn wise? It was getting increasingly more difficult to talk to them without them prying at some aspect or another, trying to figure me out. 

He didn't run to catch up to me or hurry his pace in any way, but he did pace sedately behind me as if waiting for me to stop for him. After I had circled the house three times and he hadn't gone in I did just that. I stopped and turned to face him, watching as he continued walking towards me, coming to a stop when he was so close I could have easily of sank fang into him. I swallowed hard at the temptation to ravage the smooth expanse of his throat. My fangs began dropping slowly as the rich scent of Hoseok surrounded me. God he smelled good. He always smelled so damn good but tonight I had to fight not to pull him close and wrap as much of me around him as I could...among other things. I was silent and staring so he took that as an invitation to come forward just a bit more. His eyes slowly roved over my face like he was memorizing each detail, trailing down my neck, politely stopping just before my breasts before crawling back up. He paused for a minute on my lips before finding my eyes again. My heart actually skipped a beat and I ground my nails into my palms to keep from touching him. When he reached his hand up to gently tickle his fingers across my cheek until he could cup my face, sliding just the tips of his fingers into the edge of my hair I almost lost my will to resist. 

“The way you look under the moon is just...so stunning.” He leaned into me further so that I could feel his chest brush mine at the height of his deep inhale. He let out his breath on a soft but long winded sigh, head drooping so that it almost rested on my shoulder. A shiver crept down his spine that made me lick my lips. I was drowning in the smell of him and the part of me that knew we should push him away and run was shaking her head as she folded away. 

“Why do you always smell so damn good to me?” My eyes flared wide as I felt his lips brush my neck, I hadn't realized I'd closed them or how close he had gotten while I’d felt most of my restraint flee me. I stopped breathing as his hair tickled my face. “What are you that I am so...” He let his words trail off but not before I got to feel the softness of his lips against my skin. A fine tremble worked through me as the urge to bite him tripled. He trailed his nose upward along my neck and feeling him breathe me in made goosebumps explode along my skin, drawing a small sound from me that I cut off forcibly. 

“Hoseok-”

“Hobi...or J-hope.” He said softly in my ear. I almost growled and bit my own lip to keep from biting him. Fuck! I took three fast, large steps backward and gasped, immediately able to breath better for the distance. 

“What do you want, Ho-...J-hope?” He smiled and let the arm that he'd raised to touch my cheek fall back to his side. His eyes very blatantly said that he was looking at what he wanted but his lips said something different. 

“I just wanted to come check on you.” Bullshit. You came to stalk and torture me. 

“Well, good job. You've done that. Now, go back into the house so I can do my job.”

“You can't do your job with me out here?” I swallowed hard again.

“I can but why stick around if you've accomplished what you came for? I'm not very pleasant company.”

“I wouldn't say that.” I turned away again at the husky tone of his voice. He began softly laughing as I walked away and I found myself hoping that the boner in his pants caused him pain every time he moved. 

 

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

 

Jungkook's POV

J-hope stepped closer to her so that his face disappeared on the other side of her face. I watched his head droop until it looked like he was resting his head on her shoulder. Hobi shivered and she closed her eyes, licking her lips. Was there something between the two of them that I'd missed? Why was she letting Hobi-hyung touch her like that? They were so close. My eyes widened as I watched his jaw move slightly. Was he talking or...wait was he? It looked like he was suckling her neck. I narrowed my eyes and focused harder trying to see so I didn't have a problem noticing when Hobi began kissing his way up her neck. I focused suddenly on her face to see her reaction. She opened her mouth slightly before viciously biting her lip. Suddenly she moved backwards, almost too fast for me to see how she'd gotten from point A to point B. Wow. My breath came faster at how fast she had moved. I watched her as they talked for a couple minutes before she turned away and he laughed. I stood at the window watching even after I had heard Hobi come in downstairs. 

I watched her round the house a couple of times before she started pacing. She stopped suddenly and let her head drop back on her spine as she looked up at the stars. Her mouth opened and it looked like she was talking, maybe praying. I squinted hard and almost hit my head on the glass, not realizing how close I had gotten to it. What was that? Was that just a trick of the light or were those...were those really fangs? She turned and began walking off into the trees, slowly at first and then between one step and the next she was gone. I blinked hard a couple of times in shock, rubbing at my eyes, but no. She was still just gone. 

“What the fu-” A hand clapped onto my shoulder and I jumped hard and spun around, falling slightly back against the window. Jin was staring at me with wide, startled eyes as I breathed hard. He looked me over quick.

“You okay?” He glanced at the window I'd been looking out and leaned a little to the side to see around me. “What were you focusing on so hard out there?”

“N-nothing...I just...I was wrapped up in my own thoughts and got distracted by...a deer.” 

“Jinjja (really)? Hmm.” He smiled brilliantly suddenly and held his hand out to me. “Come on. Let's go watch a movie or something. Rapmon and Suga are being braniacs together and the rest of them are doing a V live. I'm lonely.” I smiled and ran my hand through my hair before clapping my palm into his. I cast one last glance over my shoulder at the window before Jin dragged me into his room with the TV on and a movie already picked like he had predicted his ability to woo me into doing what he'd wanted. 

I couldn't tell you what the movie was about I only knew there was an estranged father and daughter, a train and zombies. Jin had jumped and clutched my arm against his chest multiple times but all I could do was offer him a distracted laugh and a shake of the head as I kept seeing those fangs. Was she a vampire? She couldn't be, could she? She walked around during the day, ate food, slept, drank, smoked. She didn't act like a vampire, just like an indestructible human. Okay but she also harbored a huge, impenetrable mysterious aura and...what about all the damage she'd taken when fighting that giant, or how fast she'd healed. I'd seen the damage and just the next day what had been black bruises only hours before looked that sickly green-yellow that spoke of weeks of healing. What...the fuck? 

“That was actually a really good movie!” Jin exclaimed, wiping tears away as the credits started to roll. I just nodded my head and laughed. I left him there as he started up a V live of his own to talk about the movie I suppose. I found myself outside circling the house but she was nowhere to be found. I frowned then swallowed hard as I turned from the house and began walking away. I stopped halfway to the patch of woods and turned, staring at the roof of the house as I circled it. I searched it thoroughly before sighing. If she were a vampire she could get on the roof, right? I shook my head and went back inside, jogging up the stairs past everyone and up to my room. I fluctuated between pacing, looking out the window and flopping on my bed for what had to of been a long time because when I finally listened to the house around me everything was quiet. Had she not come back yet? Where had she gone? I dug in my pocket and clicked the screen on my phone to see that it was after 3. I hadn't realized it was so late. 

I pocketed my phone and scrubbed at my face while sighing. What was I doing? I had choreo practice in a couple of hours. I resigned myself to going to bed as I peeled my shirt off and took off my belt. I ran my hand through my hair and snatched my towel off the door before closing it behind me. I was halfway to the bathroom when I stopped. Was that the water running? I didn't realize I had even moved until I found myself in front of the bathroom door. The faucet water was running and it sounded like someone was cursing softly. I grabbed the knob and turned it without hesitation to find Widow standing wet and naked in front of the bathroom mirror. She was wrapping a bandage around her waist. My eyes widened at how large the bandaging was. Was she that wounded? She glanced at me in the mirror as she casually pulled her robe on. I tried to ignore the fullness of her bare breasts in the mirror as she moved. I swallowed hard but began walking toward her when I saw the blood that had already seeped into the bandage. She ignored me and reached for a pile of folded clothes to pull on a generic brand underwear, the ones they sell at super-market chains. She shrugged the robe off and put her bra on but when she went to fasten it I watched a fine tremble run down her arms. She hissed a few curses and I swatted her hands away, again not realizing I had moved, to clasp it for her on the loosest setting. She turned to face me and I looked her up and down, finding at least five fresh bruises and several cuts that had already been bandaged. I glanced back at the sink to find a small surgical kit with blood covered utensils, thread, two bullets and a first aid kit. Her long wet curls obstructed my view of her entire body but as I found her eyes again I saw an exhaustion there similar to the one I frequently felt while touring. 

“How long has this been going on?” I spoke in Korean, forgetting to switch to English, unable to focus fully on speech while trying to recover from my shock. She understood enough Korean that I could communicate pretty well with her speaking either language but I tried to speak in English as much as possible when around her. I'd found that I learn more from her then I had from almost anything else, and much faster too. 

“What are you talking about?” 

“This.” I gestured at her with a sweep of my hand. “How long have you been fighting to defend us and hiding it?” She shrugged. 

“You didn't need to know.”

“The hell we don't.” I said in a cold voice. 

“You have your job, I have mine. How would freaking all of you out help make either of our jobs or daily lives any easier?” I ground my teeth but couldn't find a fault in the logic. She walked past me and I watched silently as she brushed her teeth while cleaning up the first-aide mess on the counter. She sighed as she finished and turned to face me, leaning against the sink. 

“Did you want something, Jungkook?” I swallowed as I looked her over, standing there so confidently in just underwear. I was startled to realize that even with her all busted up, bandaged, exhausted and potentially being a vampire she was still sexy to me. Then I was filled with some indescribable emotion at the thought that she carried on like this, by herself, without recognition for any of it, getting hurt and doctoring herself without saying a word. It was this emotion that drew me across the room to her. She watched me come just as I'd seen her do with Hobi earlier. Her eyes followed me closely but she was calm, patient as I came to a stop in front of her. I didn't want her calm. I began moving to close the foot of space between us but she placed a firm hand in the center of my chest and pushed me back until her arm was straight. 

“Ani. You shouldn't be that close to me, right now.” I cocked my head to the side.

“Wae?” She'd said 'right now' so she did want me close to her eventually, right? No, I just read too much into that. She shook her head. 

“Just don't, Jungkook.” I wrapped my fingers around her wrist, watching her large blue eyes flick up to mine. 

“What are you, Assassin?” 

“I'm an assassin.” I frowned in frustration.

“Yes. But that's not all you are.” 

“Oh? Please, tell me more about me. What am I then? And stop beating the fucking bush to death.” She'd spoke in English and I wasn't certain what the bush thing was about but I got the sarcasm loud and clear. I shoved that away and looked down at the wound on her stomach. 

“Even if I don't know what's under that bandage I know that by this time tomorrow the bandage will be unnecessary. You heal that fast?” She blinked at me before glancing down at my hold on her wrist. I had forgotten I'd grabbed her, honestly. 

“Let me go. And if you have a question will you just ask it already?” I cocked my head like I was trying to crack my neck, unsure but going to charge forward anyway. 

“Arasseo (Fine/Alright). Are you a vampire?” She didn't look shocked at all by my question, in fact she looked like she had been expecting it. She just laughed and shook her head, snatching her wrist out of my grasp as she scooped up her pile of clothes by the sink. She walked out of the bathroom and my anger flared through me. I rounded the door and grabbed her by the shoulder, slamming her back against the wall. I gripped her shoulders in both of my hands and locked eyes with her. 

“I asked you a question and you walk away. How rude can you be?” I saw a flash of something dangerous go through her eyes and my heart beat just a little faster. The sane part of me was screaming obscenities and begging me to come to my senses but I ignored it and leaned into her a little more so that our faces were inches apart. “Are you a vampire?” I paused briefly between each word for emphasis. She was quiet. “If you are then just show me your fangs.” 

“And if I'm not?”

“Then look me in the eyes right now and tell me truthfully and I'll believe you, apologize and try to forget this happened.” I looked into her eyes for a long minute, seeing absolutely nothing. It was like she had hit the off switch on her emotions and clocked out. She wasn't going to give me anything, which I realized was all the answer I needed. 

“You must be hungry, right? That's why you've gotten so pale and exhausted looking this past week.”

“Jungkook-” I cut her off by sidling my body up against hers so that her face was right next to mine. All I could smell was Hobi's body wash and the shampoo I shared with Jimin and V trying to cover the intoxicating scent of her, a smell I couldn't quite pinpoint but could distinguish with little to no effort. If she was a vampire this would entice her. She made a small noise that sounded like a choked growl, jerking my stomach tight in an explosion of flutters. I felt light and airy in anticipation, already knowing the answer in my heart. 

“Hajima.” She whispered. I slid one of my arms around her waist, the other across her shoulders. The cold, wet weight of her curls slid across my arm as I pulled her close making me shiver. She was still in my arms but I could feel her heart hammering against my chest, echoing my own. 

“Go ahead.” I nuzzled her neck just under her ear before tipping my head so that my lips ghosted across the soft skin of her lobe. “Bite me.” I whispered. She groaned softly, head tipping back to reveal her throat in a clean line. I didn't even fight my urge. I opened my mouth wide against her neck and sucked a mouthful of her flesh between my teeth before slowly clamping down. She moaned softly and grabbed my hips. 

“Don't-...oh fuck-” She almost growled. I released her neck before I acted on the urge to bite her hard and find out what reaction it got. The second I pulled back she shoved me back hard enough that I hit the wall on the other side of the hallway. I panted as I pushed myself to my feet. She was leaning on the wall, head tipped back and breathing hard. When I moved her head snapped up and my heart stopped at the danger in her eyes as much as the long ass fangs in her mouth. Her hair hung around her like a dark veil, the moonlight catching her skin so that it almost looked like she was glowing. One second I was moving towards her, the next I was pinned between her and the wall. She slid her hand into my hair and yanked my head only slightly to the side but completely immobile. My heart thrashed like mad in my chest, nearly choking me. 

“Was this what you wanted?” There was a slight lisp to her words as they were spoken around her fangs. She cocked her head to the side so I could see her and all I could focus on was her fangs. I was scared as hell, but for some reason when she paused I lifted my hands to place them gently on the beginning swell of her ass. “You wanted me to bite you, right? Is that what you still want?” She nuzzled along my jaw, placing a soft kiss on the tender flesh just below my ear before dragging her fangs down my neck. I hissed at the sharp sting of her breaking the skin but then a sense of utter euphoria washed over me and I was suddenly much more aware of exactly where our bodies were touching. I was breathing like I had just run a mile in a minute as she kissed the wound she'd just made. My whole body felt like it was vibrating for her and then she ran her tongue up the length of my new wound. I moaned and dug my fingers into her back. My cock was so hard, throbbing in time with my erratic heart even as my legs felt like they were going to give up on me. Just the weight of her body against mine stole my breath and when she pulled back to look at me I thought I might just do anything within my power to kiss my blood from her lips, despite the dark gleam in her eyes. 

“Yes.” I said huskily. “This is what I want.” I felt a drop of blood trailing from my neck wound and watched her eyes follow it. 

She leaned in and licked it away, but she didn't stop there. She ran her tongue across the wound in circles at first then long strokes. I moaned and grabbed her to me as each stroke of her tongue drove me increasingly more mad. It was impossible but I felt like I could feel every lick like a bolt of pleasure from her mouth on my neck to the cock desperately seizing in my pants. My legs trembled and I bit my lip to mute the sounds trying to come out of me. She suddenly moved and was gone. The second her weight was no longer there to support me I slid down the wall. I rolled my head to search for her but she was nowhere to be seen. I smiled and shook my head, still choking on my heart. 

After a few minutes I got to my knees and then wobbled on gelatinous legs into the bathroom. I carefully stripped out of my pants and almost moaned in relief as my cock sprang free of its denim prison. I leaned against and held on to the edge of the sink while I peeled off one sock at a time then stumbled into the shower. The water was almost scalding hot so I kept turning it down until cool water ran over my chest. The water felt absolutely amazing, indescribably so. I was lost to the feeling of it until the spray hit the spot on my neck where she had bled me, a wave of pleasure swept through me, stealing my breath and snapping my head back on my spine. My erection that had never faded was suddenly a much more pressing concern. I hissed, stepping out from under the spray to begin lathering my hair with soap. My body was on fire with a need I had never known before, skin sensitive to everything from the soap trailing down my neck to the light movement of air, stirred by the water. As I stepped back under the water and opened my eyes to find the tiles on the ceiling above me out of focus I realized I was high. I couldn't decide if I felt heavy or light, whether gravity was pulling me closer or letting me go. 

“Oh shit...” I groaned, lathering up my loofa. That was how vampires so easily entranced their victims, something about their bite drugged the victim and made them squeeze death tight as their life flowed into the mouth at their throat. If I thought washing my hair felt nice it was nothing in comparison to scrubbing my body. By the time I was finished my breath was coming in short pants and my cock almost hurt with the need for release. I slid my hand down my chest slowly and then suddenly I saw her in front of me, long wet curls veiling her pale skin, the underwear she wore her only defense against my hungry gaze. 

“Was this what you wanted?” Her question echoed through my mind as I watched her lips move. I gasped sharply as I dropped my head back on my spine, hand closing around the base of my cock. I moaned as the feeling of her body pressed against mine made me stumble back against the wall, under the shower spray. I stroked my cock in long fluid strokes as the feeling of her teeth dragging down my throat struck me, drawing my breath short then exploding out of me on a moan as the first rush of pleasure racked me again. Her kiss, the slow, deliberate circling and stroking of her tongue quickly drove me to the edge as the memory was so physical that I relived the pleasure of the moment stroke by stroke. I saw her face in front of mine, long fangs colored with just the barest hint of my blood on them as the orgasm swept me over and under. Every stroke dragged the pleasure out until I thought I would scream, if I had the air. My spine bowed and I cried out, snatching at the curtain with my other hand. When it was finally over I found myself on my knees, collapsed against the wall, not remembering having fallen. The curtain was torn from the rings that had secured it.

“Fuck...How naughty of you...assassin.” I closed my eyes and sat under that spray for time unknown to me before I weakly turned the water off and stumbled out of the bathroom, without a towel or my clothes. I stopped and turned, making my way down the hallway to the room the assassin was staying in. I don't know why I was going towards her room when I wasn't even certain she was in there, or what I was going to do when I got there but a larger part of me than I wanted to admit to needed to see her just then. I stopped in my tracks when I could see the moonlight gleaming off of the door handle and shook my head, laughing silently.

“Goodnight...Widow.” I turned around and began retreating to my room. “I'm sure I'll be dreaming of you.” I mumbled softly to myself before I threw the door open, diving onto the bed just as sleep sucked me under.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N- Okay so I have to admit that I love writing this story. Even though I haven't updated it since I posted the first and only chapter till now, I have been writing for it, trying to keep up with my dreams. Unfortunately I do not have much time for writing these days so I haven't been able to write that much but I will post another chapter immediately to make up for the long time between updates. What do you all think of the assassin? Idk why but this is the character my mind created...and I kind of like it. Please, forgive any grammar errors, I am my own editor.


	3. Chapter 3

Assassin's POV

I fell back on the bed, legs too weak to stand as moans fell from Jungkook's mouth as quick as he could gasp for air. I heard the water pounding on and around him, could smell the soap he'd used to clean himself, but more than anything I was drowning in the smell of his sex, hypnotized by the sounds coming out of him. My lips tingled with the memory of his skin beneath them. I bit them hard as I heard his breath come even faster, heart rate almost triple its normal pace. 

“Oh...fuck-” He cried on a throaty moan that made me dig my nails into the palms of my hands in an effort to not go to him. The smell of him was everywhere and the second he came I could almost taste him on my tongue. The moans that had been soft and short were now very throaty and much louder, getting louder as I heard the sharp snap of something being torn away and him falling in the tub. I hadn't even thought about moving but I was suddenly almost at the bathroom door. I stopped myself and shook my head hard as he cried out loudly. When it was all over I found myself standing there, listening to the thrum of his heart and rush of labored breathing. 

“Fuck...how naughty of you...assassin.” Did he know I was listening? My eyes widened and I tasted my own blood in my mouth as I turned and raced back to my room before I really went in the bathroom. I leaned against the door for a few minutes. There was no way he had known. Unless...he did. He was a smart man. I shook my head and paced a tight circle, deciding that I was projecting my guilty conscience. Fuck me. 

After almost an hour I heard the water in the shower finally shut off and listened to the soft sounds of protest from Kookie as he opened the door. The click of the light sounded and then he shuffled down the hallway. He stopped for a minute and then it sounded like he was coming towards my room. My eyes widened. Oh, please no. He was going to be all wet and damn near naked...how could a person resist that? Answer, I'm not sure I could. He stopped about five feet from the door and stood there for a few minutes, as if he couldn't decide what he was doing. A sudden soft burst of laughter broke the total silence in the hallway.

“Goodnight...Widow.” He began receding down the hallway again and I audibly sighed in relief, and yet a small pang of regret went through me, which was startling as fuck. I shook my head to free myself of thoughts of Jungkook even as I could still hear him slowly retreating.

“I'm sure I'll be dreaming of you.” Kookie mumbled to himself. I raised my eyebrows and waited to hear the click of his door closing to leave my room. 

I stopped when I was passing his door and stared at it hearing the soft snore of Jungkook. Had he fallen asleep that fast? Without taking the time to think about it I turned the doorknob and stepped into the room, quietly closing the door behind me. He had collapsed face down, right leg cocked at a ninety degree angle, left leg from the knee down hanging off the edge of the bed, body completely bare to my view. His face was buried in the pillow he was half-cuddling. I shook my head, feeling a smile widen as I grabbed his leg and moved it onto the bed. He sighed and shifted. He rolled until he was facing me on his side, cuddling the pillow he'd been laying on and my breath left me on a deep sigh at the sight of all that tanned muscle being exposed. His neck was bent at an odd angle so that his head rested on the bed and I almost laughed at how cute yet sexy he was as I grabbed one of the other pillows and gently slid my hand under his head to lift it and put the pillow beneath. He sighed deeply and I stopped breathing when his hand lifted to slide along my arm until he lightly wrapped his fingers just above my elbow. I licked my lips when I saw him staring at me out of half-lidded eyes from a foot and a half away. 

“You may be able to hide from the rest of them beneath your mask, but I see you.” His words were spoken in a thick, semi-slurred Korean. I just stared at him, once again surprised by his words. I swallowed hard a couple of times and watched as Kookie moved just his upper body towards me until he was nearly doubled in half so that his head rested in my lap. The pillow he'd been cuddling was between his chest and my leg but his face nuzzling into my shirt just over my hip made my heart skip. I knew I should run but I found myself sitting there, allowing him to wrap the arm that had been holding the pillow around my waist, his other arm resting along my thigh, hand on the hip. I sat there for almost ten minutes, allowing him to hold me like that before he spoke.

“Does it scare you?” His voice was husky, deepened with the sleep I had interrupted, and I felt the vibration of it in my stomach and through the pillow between his chest and my leg. 

“Mwo?” 

“Knowing that someone sees you.” I caught my breath in my throat while staring down at his perfect profile cuddled into my hip. He was so tall, athletic and strong and yet he looked so fragile wrapped around me. I went to stand but he wrapped his arms tighter around me, hand on my other hip digging in harder. 

“Ani...” I froze in the act of standing, feeling the weight of him hanging off my hips. “Jebal.” He nuzzled his face against me again never making an effort to look up at my face as he continued to speak. “You don't have to answer. Just...don't go yet.” He spoke this in English. 

I slowly eased back on the bed and watched as he readjusted himself. I felt that he had something more to say, something he was smart enough to keep to himself. So we sat in silence while I contemplated why exactly I hadn't just left. Why had I allowed him to pull me back to the bed and wrap back around me? Why had I allowed him to get so close that this situation had ever occurred in the first place. I suddenly got distracted as a half-asleep Jungkook nuzzled his face against my hip until he had raised the shirt enough that the side of his face rested against bare skin. He sighed contentedly and then I listened as he rapidly fell asleep, his breath slowing and deepening so that it moved across my skin in long, hot waves. His heart beat strong but lazily against my outer thigh. 

I'm not sure how long I sat there and watched him while he slept but I found myself curious as to what his hair felt like or how soft his lips were. I lifted my hand and trailed just my fingertips lightly through his hair. Before I could tell myself not to I slid my hand slowly through it, lightly dragging my nails along his scalp so I could feel the warmth of his hair between my fingers. His hair was thick but it was stripped of the softness I'm sure it would have had were it not exposed to so many chemicals and heat. It wasn't coarse but it wasn't as soft as it looked. Regardless, I sat there and trailed my hand through it, freezing when Kookie groaned in his sleep against my hip and moved his head slightly beneath my hand, as if encouraging me to not stop. Needy even in sleep. I smiled and lost time just sitting there with him like that. It had been a while since I had been that relaxed. I heard the first alarm go off down the hallway followed by a deep groan and jumped slightly, startling Kookie into moving. I gasped as he nuzzled his face along my inner thigh and I finally found my will to move away. I deftly lifted him enough to slip out from beneath him then put a pillow beneath his head and covered him as he curled around his pillow again. I stared at him for a few heartbeats before shaking my head and quickly escaping. I was cruising down the hall when Jin staggered out of his room, mouth opened wide as he stretched and yawned. I got a great flash of abs that he worked very hard to maintain. He groaned as he scrubbed his hands across his face then ruffled his own hair as he finally turned and saw me, jumping hard enough that he bumped into the wall.

“Aigoo!” He sighed and clutched his heart, waggling his finger at me. “You can be really creepy sometimes.” I shrugged.

“I'm glad you think so otherwise I might worry about how well I'm doing my job.” He frowned and ran his hand through his hair again as he moved past me. “Well, good morning to you too.” He grumbled. I smiled to myself and shook my head as I began working my way down the hallway to commence the morning ritual of making sure everyone was out of bed and moving. 

“What the-...who the hell-...which destructive shit did this?” He finally settled on. The anger and confusion in Jin's voice was nearly palpable as I heard him rustling around with the torn shower curtain, grumbling to himself about having a talk with Rapmon about his destructive tendencies. I almost laughed aloud as the man in question shuffled out of his room very similar to how Jin had only minutes before. He, unlike Jin, simply ignored me as he walked past towards the bathroom so I in turn neglected to warn him of the false accusations he was about to face. I did laugh softly as I heard Namjoon emphatically defend himself in the face of Jin's barrage of accusations and chastisement of his leader's lack of consideration for not even trying to fix it. I woke everyone who wasn't already awake, leaving Jungkook for last since I knew he would be harder to wake for not having gotten any sleep really. I stood outside of his door for a long minute and was reaching for the knob to go in once I finally garnered the will when V came out. I sighed in relief and walked up to him, grabbing his shoulders and redirecting him from the direction of the bathroom towards Kookie's room.

“Mw-”

“Bathroom's occupado, mate. Go make sure Jungkook is awake, okay?” He grumbled and did as I asked. I was very grateful that he hadn't made any fuss at all. V rarely did. 

An hour later I was grabbing armfuls of bags and hauling them into the back of the van as they all checked to make sure nothing was forgotten. I was on my way back in when my phone went off with further instructions to defend BTS using every means necessary against an attack that was, according to sources unknown to me, coming our way. I did an automatic check of my weapons and tried to shrug off a tension that had a strangle hold over my shoulders suddenly. It was going to be a fun day, and the sun wasn't even up yet. 

They all came hustling out while Namjoon held the door and ushered them out with warnings of being late. V was still scrubbing water out of his hair, brush in hand, since he'd lost against Jimin in rock, paper, scissors and taken the last shower, as he ran towards the van. We were all in and Jin hopped behind the wheel, telling everyone to buckle up, something he did every time he started driving. Most of them complied but today Kookie didn't. It was an hour and a half ride to the dance studio, thanks to how out of the way this little house was, so he laid down in the seat, laying his head in J-Hope's lap. The older man looked down at him, having lifted his hands to let the younger lay on him aotomatically. He seemed to think for a second about where to put his hands before I watched him place his hand on Kookie's chest. 

Hobi just looked out the window while I watched Jungkook slide into a light doze. Hobi began absentmindedly running his fingers through Kookie's hair, twirling locks of it around his fingers before teasing out the twists he'd made. I don't think he even realized he was staring down at the younger man with an incredible softness, a small smile playing on that beautiful mouth. J-Hope looked stunning this morning without a lick of makeup. His still damp hair was mussed into an artful messy style that I'm sure V helped him achieve. The top three buttons on his shirt were undone, exposing the defined collarbones and a tease of the beginning swell of an even more impressive chest and abs beneath. I was staring and knew it but didn't really pay attention to it until I glanced over and saw V watching me. I jumped when Jin clapped his hand on my knee.

“Stop staring, you're being creepy again.” I didn't turn my body, just my head so that I could face him. 

“Why am I so creepy to you?” His eyes flicked briefly to me for a moment before focusing back on the road but that quick flash showed me the humor in his eyes.

“You're kidding, right? You are an assassin, you know.”

“I know that better than you.”

“Well, there you go.” I cocked my head and analyzed him.

“I creep you out because I'm an assassin.” I mumbled to myself. I really had to think for a moment about how I must appear to a human. Jungkook and Hoseok were apparently exceptions to the normal human reaction, which was somewhere on a scale between Jin and Namjoon. I was so used to the pattern of death and destruction, but once upon a time I'd been human too, I'd been young and naive, sensitive and open, but there was no one to nourish this in me and so the child had died early. None of these men were like that, a fact that I only just then realized I cherished about them. They only knew the violence they were being exposed to. I nodded. “I understand.” I finally said. 

“That's it?” I looked back at Hoseok, who had apparently been ear hustling my conversation with Jin.

“What are you talking about, Hoseok?” He rolled his eyes, an action that is not normally sexy yet strangely was. 

“J-hope. And all that-” He gestured to my face with a swirling motion, “that just happened and all you say is, 'I understand?'” He shook his head and laughed softly in disbelief. “Wau. You are a true Tsundere, aren't you?” I frowned deeply at him.

“You think you have the ability to warm me over time. Are you confident you have such capabilities?” I saw Jimin's mouth open in surprise, I guess he hadn't expected me to know the Japanese term J-Hope had used. 

“Yes.” I raised an eyebrow and he did the same to me. 

“Be careful not overstep your boundaries, Hoseok.”

“What boundaries? Show them to me. Or...I guess I'll discover them as we go?” I ground my teeth and ignored him, still refusing to face the front out of the stubborn belief that he'd see that as a victory. “You didn't say anything to that. Wae?” His small smile annoyed me. I continued ignoring him but I was thoroughly annoyed when he laughed and went back to playing with Jungkook's hair, something he himself loved to have done while sleeping. I did turn forward after a few minutes and thought about the message I'd received earlier. It hadn't said anything about the size of the attack or if any of the attackers were known. It baffled me in the first place that I actually had warning when usually I didn't. Why the warning, and a vague one at that? Had policies changed again while I had been gone? I sighed at the thought of all the places and times for an attack over the next couple of days that would be...very very bad. There was little time to fight a covert defense in the upcoming schedule. Fuck. Jin suddenly hit the brakes and I would have gotten choked by my seat belt if he hadn't thrown his arm across me in an automatic protective gesture. I looked out through the windshield to find why he'd slammed on the brakes. I grabbed his wrist and shoved his arm away, unbuckling my seat belt. 

“Do me a favor.” Jin looked at me with wide eyes as I clicked the safety off on the gun that was still in the holster. “Next time, just gun it.” His eyes flared wide as I opened the door and stepped out. I looked around and found that we were on the back-roads yet. There wasn't even a sound of a car anywhere close. Perfect place to pull this shit. 

“I heard your safety. Are you scared I'm here to hurt you.” I shrugged. 

“I think it's something closer to paranoia, honestly. Call it a precaution that only you can prove unnecessary.” He actually smiled at me out of a face that could disappear in just about any crowd. His features were average, down to his hair color and eyes. The perfect spy. 

“I like how forward you are.” I gave him a tight smile.

“I'm sure I'm charmed, but you haven't seen forward. Who are you and who do you belong to?” 

“My name is unimportant, I am an emissary and nothing more. I 'belong', as you say, to an organization, if you will, that has no interest in you but rather those whom you protect.” I cocked my head at his odd speech patterns. 

“Ahhh...you belong to one of the old ones.” I shook my head and smiled while brushing hair out of my face. “They always refuse to let go of the past and assimilate. You sound like a character out of a bad Dracula movie. Is that what I sound like?” His face remained motionless except for a quirk of the lip and eyebrow. 

“You find humor in this.” I laughed and nodded. 

“Kinda. What do you want?” 

“I've already told you.” I nodded.

“Yeah, I heard you. I was giving you a chance to change your answer.”

“Oh? How gracious of you.” With his bland voice he still managed to convey an unhealthy amount of sarcasm. “But I didn't come here to play with you.”

“No. You came to take the men I'm protecting. I kind of can't let you do that.” It was his turn to curiously cock his head. 

“Why do you fight so hard to protect them? Is it for the wealth of it? If so, I can assure you that I will offer more if you'll just step aside.” I was silent for a minute, wondering why I wasn't accepting. I thought about how easy it would be if the money was all it was. I shook my head hard with a laugh and drew the gun at my side. 

“No. That's my final answer.”

“I really don't want to have to kill you. My superiors all seem to have quite an interest in you. Killing you might make them terribly upset with me. Please, step aside.” 

“I thought you just said that I was of no interest to your employers just a minute ago.” I smiled when he frowned in silence before shrugging and ignoring it. We really didn't have time for this. “If that's how it has to be then go ahead. Kill me, if you can.” He shook his head.

“You are really quite fascinating you know, it would be a shame if I had to move you.” I sighed.

“You going to kill me or cry like a bitch all day talking about it? I kind of have a scheduled life to get back to.” 

He moved in a blur even to me. His foot connected with my chest, sending me flying back into the front of the van. I bounced off the front fender and caught the next kick bringing my elbow down on his knee three times and punching him once before he dropped back and swung his other leg at my ribs. He was banking on me holding his whole weight for the second it took to complete the move but I shoved his leg away, throwing him off balance in a tumble to the ground that he never hit because I kicked him as he fell, launching him a good five feet before he hit the ground. He spun to his feet, stopping to wipe the blood from the corner of his mouth and drew a sword from out of the robes he was wearing. No bullshit, they were robes, like a uniform for a special classification of ninja or something. 

“Why do ninja always have to bring a knife to a gunfight?” I shot at him as he raced forward and just like something in a movie he cut a couple of them in half, skillfully dodged others and deflected the rest with the edge of his blade. I drew the sword down my spine and swung it in a small circle before our blades danced in a vicious rain of small cuts, screams of metal, small sparks and sweat. He was well-skilled with a sword and my skills were a tad rusty I found as he once again slipped past my guard. But I was faster. I spun past him and sliced the back of his knees. He fell with a groan of pain but still tried to fight me until I broke the arm swinging the sword, sending it clattering to the ground. I stabbed his other shoulder and crouched in front of him. 

“I am only a messenger. More will come for them.” I nodded. 

“Understood. I have a message for you to give them for me too.” His eyes widened as I grabbed his shoulder and drove the sword in my other hand up under his ribs, twisting my body and wrist into it so that I shred his heart, the tip of my sword peaking up between his clavicle. His fingers dug into me, scrambling against the flesh of my back and shoulders. He made a small but terrible sound of disbelief that I cut short by twisting the sword again as I pulled it out. His body fell, bonelessly back onto the ground, blood pooling around his cooling body. I looked up and out into the trees where I could feel at least two more lurking in the shadows. I flicked blood off of my sword and walked around the van to open the door.

“Someone give me a napkin or two.” A shaking hand appeared with a handful of fast food napkins that I used to clean the blood off my blade before sheathing it. I drew my gun again and clicked the safety off. He wasn't fading yet which meant his master was very powerful indeed to keep him alive after such a wound. Great. I walked up to him and unloaded my gun into his chest until it was a bloody ruin and finally, when only two rounds remained in my gun, he began to disintegrate. I holstered my gun as I looked back out into the trees and turned around, leaving him on the ground and hopping into the van. 

“Drive.” Jin swallowed hard and looked pale as he white-knuckled the steering wheel.

“B-but we can't just-”

“I said drive. I set it so that will be taken care of.” He turned then to look at me out of eyes that were too wide and swallowed again but switched gears and took off. I waited a couple seconds and then set fire to the body with a rush of magic that poured warmth through me like one might feel when drinking to speed the process along as we drove off. I heard a sharp gasp and looked in the rear view to see Jungkook looking back at the explosion of flames. I was watching him look out the back window through the rear-view so when He turned around and caught my eyes in the reflection I saw something like fear in his eyes. A part of me mourned that look but the larger part was content that I had finally put a crack in the rose-colored glasses he wore when looking at me. 

I looked away out of the window and winced as we went over a pot hole too fast, jacking my new wound against the seat belt I had put on for Jin's peace of mind, not that I thought he would mind too much if I took a trip through the windshield right now after the show I'd just put on. I sighed as I took in the sliced up wardrobe and blood, unbuckling my seat belt. I slipped between the seats into the row behind, which nearly put me in Jungkook's lap. I ignored his look of surprise and crept around him. Jimin and Namjoon both parted so I could crawl over the seat between them. Yoongi sat by himself in the second to last row, watching me as I crept around it and crawled over the final row of seats, putting me in the back with all of the bags. I huffed quietly, my wounds protesting, as I heaved bags out of the way to get to mine. I picked through my bag for a new shirt and jeans and my medical kit. I shoved the bags back more so that I could sit on the floor behind the seat. Hopefully they wouldn't be able to see me. Music suddenly started playing, not too loud, but loud enough that it would be difficult for any of them to hear me in the back. I bit my lip to mute the soft noises creeping up my throat at the pain of peeling my weapons and clothes off. The bandage around my waist from my surprise fight last night while hunting was soaking through with blood again, a new wound layered over top of the first. I swore quietly as I cut the bandaging free from my waist, grinding my teeth as I began threading my wound closed again. After all of these years one would think I'd be more adjusted to the pain of sewing myself up, but no. It hurt like a bitch every single time. I think it actually hurt less to receive the wound than to fix it. 

“Fucking hell...” I groaned softly as I sewed the point where the two wounds crossed, that area being particularly sensitive due to excessive abuse. I dropped my head back and panted for a second, feeling my fangs begin to protrude as the pain triggered my urge to feed. 

“Even if I don't know what's under that bandage I know that by this time tomorrow the bandage will be unnecessary. You heal that fast?” Jungkook's words swept through my mind and I shook my head to clear it. Normally, he'd be right. However, not feeding properly on top of being wounded with weapons geared specifically against vampires like myself left me at quite the disadvantage. My hands shook by the time I finished sewing the wounds that needed it and I was covered in a fine sheen of cold sweat. I wrapped another bandage around my waist and various other places and then lay among the bags for a few minutes, shivering as my body fought off the shock of so much blood loss and the pain while I fought off the urge to feed. I was tired and the sun was barely peaking over the hill we were climbing. I slowly sat up and began pulling on my clothes and weapons with a few jolts of pain here and there. Once I was dressed and had cleaned up my mess I climbed back over the seat, discovering that Jimin was the one who had crawled into my abandoned seat to assume the role of DJ. He was playing only happy, jumpy songs in an effort, I assume, to cheer the now melancholy group. I sat next to Yoongi, who was staring at me without a word. I kept my mouth shut since I wasn't able to speak yet for fear of flashing my fangs, but he steadily stared for a good while before he opened the journal next to him and began writing again. The rest of the car ride passed peacefully. Jimin and Jin bickered back and forth in the front seat playfully over music choices, Jimin usually conceding to please his hyung, eventually. Jungkook lay back down but I knew he didn't find the restful sleep he'd fallen so easily into before. J-hope stared out the window the whole ride, the minute movement of the muscles in his shoulder told me that he continued absently played with Kookie's hair. Namjoon was quiet the whole ride with the exception of calling a few song requests up to Jimin, who played them without question, inspiring a fresh debate between Jin and him over favoritism.

When we arrived at the company studio there was a small gathering of fans who shouted and raced to close around the boys as we began walking towards the building. Several security members poured out of the doors we were slowly making our way towards. I grabbed the hands of one of the women who had buried them in V's shirt and extricated them as gently as I could while we kept moving. She shouted confessions of love for him as we finally got to the doors. The glare she shot me when I stood between the crowd and the boys as they all cleared the door was one that I might have killed her for if I thought she could really do me any harm. I raised my eyebrows and exchanged a few words with the building security before slipping inside. The boys had all moved on, making their way through the lobby to the stairs leading to their choreography room. All except one. I ignored the fact that Yoongi waited for me to catch up to him before walking beside me. He was quiet all the way up to the practice room but he seemed to be thinking. 

The practice was long and vigorous as the boys prepared choreography for their next comeback. Apparently this was a huge part of building their popularity. I watched them debate between themselves over moves while demonstrating various twists in the choreography that they liked better. Their choreographer wasn't fond of allowing changes, clearly, from the hard line of his mouth every time J-hope disagreed with anything. The ferocity of J-hope in the face of his choreographer earned him brownie points in my book. 

“Ya! Do you want to do your job, Hoshik, or are you content to keep doing mine?” I curled my lip slightly at the way he pronounced Hoseok's name. There was just something about it that I didn't like. 

“Joesonghamnida (I'm very sorry – formal)! But It's my job to make sure BTS does as best they can do as well and, with all due respect, some of these moves leave something to be desired. They just need more...PAU! To them.” He clapped his hands together loudly to emphasize the pow sound he'd shouted rather explosively. 

“I have been doing this for many years, boy. I think I know what I am doing.” J-hope's normally full lips thinned and I watched a vein pop out in the side of his neck as he ground his teeth. 

“For a professional dancer you really can not handle constructive criticism.” The older man's jaw fell open and I watched his face flush a deep red a second before he closed his mouth so hard I heard his teeth snap together. He pointed his finger directly in J-hope's face, finger tip almost brushing the younger man's nose. 

“YA! Are you daring to call me unprofessional you little-” The man abruptly cut himself off, knowing he was about to say something that may lose him his job as everyone in the room was aptly watching. I could hear J-hope's heart racing, could see the pulse beating against the skin of his neck like something alive trying to make an escape. I could smell his rage, but I could also smell his fear. He was scared but that didn't stop him from continuing. He took one step back so that the older man's finger was not in his face and dipped his head to look at the ground for a second, a gesture that was still respectful despite the situation. When he looked up his face displayed a calmness I knew he didn't feel.

“I never said any such thing, nor would I ever dare to. But if that's your interpretation of my words I think that says more about you than me, ahjussi.” He bowed his head to the man who looked like he was vibrating with the urge to hit J-hope as the younger man politely took his leave. I watched the red faced older man glare after J-hope who passed by me where I stood next to the door to leave the practice studio. The anger and fear heightened the already delicious scent of J-hope into something intoxicating as he swept through the door, literally rocking my head back on my spine. I allowed my head to fall back against the wall, hoping that would just make me seem like I was exasperated with the whole thing. I sucked in a huge lungful of air, pulling the smell as deep into me as I could without consciously thinking about it. A small noise crept out of me as I sighed outwards, shivering slightly.

“Shibal (fuck).” I muttered to myself. It baffled me how, covered in sweat after hours of practice he could still smell so damn good to me. When I lifted my head I found V and Yoongi staring at me before their manager gathered them together for a little powwow about doing their jobs and doing it respectfully. Namjoon kept flicking his eyes toward the door worriedly, but Jimin stared unwaveringly at the door J-hope had disappeared through. I sighed again as I decided to follow the receding rapid footsteps of BTS' head dancer. Jungkook's eyes caught mine briefly as I turned to leave and the small smile I saw at the corner of his mouth irritated me. What the fuck was he smiling about. 

I tried to brace myself as I deftly followed the fast moving J-hope through the hallways. Where was he going? I followed him at a distance for fifteen minutes. In that time he had lapped the floor three times, gone up the stairs to the floor above and did the same there before I found myself running down the stairwell to keep up with him as best I could while not being caught vamping out on camera. He just kept going down and down until the stairs finally ended. I smelled chlorine and knew before I entered a long hallway that it was leading me to a pool. I had been trying hard to take only small sips of air as needed so as not to drown in the scent of the man I'd been following. Now, the chlorine smell was nearly choking, giving me the motivation to test my lung capacity. I entered the pool room to find that J-hope had finally come to a halt at the edge of the medium sized lake of chemicals. His eyes flicked over to me before he scoffed and shook his head, ignoring me as I came closer.

“How long were you following me?” His Korean was so softly spoken that I leaned more towards him to hear it. I ignored the question because if he'd meant for me to hear it he would have spoken louder. 

“Why the pool?” He looked over at me where I stood ten feet away. 

“Why are you here? I left for solitude. If I don't want the company of my group members what makes you think I want your company?” I shrugged and looked into the pool.

“I'm just doing my job.”

“By abandoning the rest of them?” I looked at him then. 

“By following the lemming that peeled off by himself without warning anyone.” He scoffed.

“So privacy is a luxury not afforded to any of us anymore?” I smiled and shook my head. 

“Privacy was a luxury you lost when you became an idol.” He made a small sound of frustration before sighing deeply. 

“You annoy me.” I raised an eyebrow at that.

“I'm not particularly fond of my own company sometimes either.” I could feel him staring at me but I ignored it and kept staring at the still surface of the water. The silence stretched between us for a while before he turned to face me. 

“I keep thinking about what you did earlier.” I remained silent. “You're not going to say anything?”

“You didn't ask a question and I have nothing to say about that.” 

“You are really annoying.” I laughed softly and nodded.

“I annoy you if I'm talking and even worse when I say nothing. Is there nothing I do that doesn't annoy you?” He ignored my question and posed one of his own.

“Did you have to kill him?” 

“No.” I saw his eyes widen at my confession out of my peripherals. 

“Then why?”

“Because killing the messenger sends a message.” 

“You are so fucking cold.” The distaste in his voice was thick. I turned to him and bowed dramatically, keeping my eyes on him as I did. 

“Yes. And it has been the only thing that has gotten me this far.” 

“No. It is the thing that has turned you into what you are.” I stared at him for a moment before dipping my head in a small concession. 

“Ama (maybe).” 

“What was the message he delivered?” I sighed and turned back to the water. “I have a right to know if I'm smack in the center of all of this.” I nodded. 

“Ye. Arraseo. He basically told me that I'm about to be in deep shit.”

“You are? Or we are?” I smiled. And nodded. 

“We, I suppose.” He was quiet for a good few minutes and I turned my head to find him staring at me, breath coming faster while I breathed only to talk. 

“Are you scared?” He finally asked while looking me in the eyes. I wasn't sure how to respond to that. If I said yes, would that make him more scared or would it be a comfort to him. 

“I'm...worried that I'm not ready for what is coming.” I looked away.

“You're scared you won't be able to protect us.” I nodded slightly.

“It's occurred to me that maybe I won't be enough...that I may fail.”

“But everyone fails sometimes.”

“Not me.” He scoffed then.

“You must have failed at some point.”

“If I fail then that means the ones I was supposed to protect died or that I missed my mark.” I turned to face him fully. “If I had previously failed I would not be standing before you now.” His eyes widened.

“Are you saying that failure means either you will die or we will?” I nodded. “Wau...no pressure.” I laughed and then grimaced at the taste of chemicals in the back of my throat. 

“Can we get out of here? I hate the smell of chlorine.” I just turned and began retreating, hearing him fall into step behind me. 

“You're a very melancholy woman.”

“I'm an assassin. Did you expect bubbly?” 

“I'm not sure what I expected.” The hesitation in those words made me look at him as we climbed the stairs. He looked very downtrodden, not a characteristic very exemplary of the sunshine of BTS. We were quiet for a few minutes before he spoke again. 

“What do they want? The ones coming for us. Why us?” I shook my head.

“I know about as much as you. But I can tell you that someone very powerful with a lot of money to throw around wants all of you gone.” And if I couldn't find the man behind the money they would eventually get just that, sooner rather than later. 

“You're so comforting right now.” The sarcasm was thick on that one.

“Stop asking uncomfortable questions then.”

“I can't.”

“Wae?”

“Because, you're actually answering.” I laughed but stayed quiet.

“What are you going to do?” I mulled that over for a few minutes, speaking as we finally walked through the door leading to the floor the practice room was on. 

“I'm going to meet there offensive with one of my own.”

“Annnnnd that means...?”

“That means that I'm going to prepare for their oncoming attack then find the man behind the money.”

“And when you find him?” I stopped suddenly enough that he shoulder checked me as he too came to an abrupt stop. I turned to look at him to find him taking a step back. 

“I'm only going to say this once more, Hoseok. I am an assassin. I am hired to protect you all so, when I find the money man I am going to kill him, do you understand?” He nodded too much and too fast. 

“No. You don't. Not really.” I gave him my back as I continued down the hallway. When we got to the practice room he went past me inside without a word. I stayed outside and leaned against the wall, taking a deep breath. I closed my eyes, smelling nothing but Hobi all around me and the chemicals clinging to my clothes.

Almost two hours later I was waiting for Hoseok to finish getting bitched out by PD Nim about his behavior while the rest of them rehydrated, and cooled down from the practice. All of them except for Jimin were crowded together on the couch. Jungkook laid across the laps of Jin, V and Yoongi. I ignored them and watched Jimin dance while he sang the song solo. I had a moment to be struck by his beauty before I heard PD Nim ask if Hoseok's behavior was a result of my influence. Hobi fell silent for a moment before he spoke.

“Why would you ask me that? She has nothing to do with it. The whole situation arose because I wanted Kang-hyungnim to hear the opinion of one of the dancers performing the choreo. Why is that a bad thing? It is called constructive criticism, not disrespect.” 

“Calm down, Hobi. I'm simply asking because I've never seen you so prone to aggression. Your always passionate but rarely this persistent.” I tuned out there conversation and went back to watching Jimin as they finished up. Five minutes later we were heading out the door. PD Nim walked behind me and waited until the members had all walked out ahead of us to stop me.

“I'll be calling you later to discuss a few things of...concern. Please answer my call.” I stared for a moment before dipping my head in silence to acknowledge his words before walking out to follow my boys. 

When we were on the road for the almost two hour drive back, thanks to traffic, the guys were mostly quiet, docile while listening to music or quietly chatting. The practice had been long and hard on them but the night was only about to get harder. I reluctantly turned in the passenger seat so that I could see them. 

“Jin.”

“Ne.”

“Pull over.” I saw him turn his head quickly to look at me before looking back at the road. He looked like he was thinking about it hard for a minute before he hit his blinker and began merging lanes to get to the shoulder. By the time the van had come to a full stop I had everyone's rapt attention. I sat there for a moment with all of them staring at me, trying to figure out how to say this. 

“Okay, so you all remember the giant that attacked, yes.” I didn't say it as a question because I knew they wouldn't forget it, but several of them nodded anyway. I nodded too and turned in my seat just a bit more before continuing. 

“Something equally dangerous is coming. I don't know exactly when and I don't know what, but I know that according to my information they plan to attack tonight.” Their faces reflected an array of questions and emotions that I ignored as I blazed on. “So, I need you all to do something for me.” 

“What could you possibly want from us?” I glanced towards Namjoon who, of course, had been the one to ask. 

“I want you to stay out of the line of fire. When we get back you all need to fortify every entrance with whatever you can and find the most secure room, corner, closet, whatever. You'll bunk down there until the storm blows over.”

“And you won't be helping us bunk down because you'll be outside, fighting.” Jungkook spoke this time.

“Ne.” He stared at me for a long minute and I could almost see the thoughts flit across his eyes.

“What if they have an army? What will you do? Will you fight a one man war?” He spoke in English and his eyes were so sincere as they stared right into mine. 

“I will do whatever I have to do.” I sighed and looked out the window, reluctantly pulling my backup gun from my ankle holster. “Who is best with a firearm? Have any of you ever shot a gun before?” They all shook their heads. Yoongi pointed at Jungkook.

“He is the best at archery.” I nodded and unbuckled my seat belt to slither between the seats. I crouched on the floor and looked at the maknae. 

“Come here, Jungkook.” As he knelt very close on the floor in front of me I looked around at all of their faces. “You all watch this too.” When I looked back to the man in front of me I found him staring very attentively as if ready for whatever I needed. “Hold out your hands.” He did as I told him and I placed the gun in his one hand and closed his fingers around the grip in the proper hold. 

“Wait.” I looked over my shoulder at Jin who was shaking his head with his hand stretched out toward us in a universal sign to stop. He looked nervous. “I don't-...I don't like this. This isn't right. We can't-”

“I agree.” Namjoon said crisply. “Jungkook is so...young. How could you think to put a gun into his hand.”

“Hyung-”

“No, Jungkook. Just no. Give me the gun.” He motioned his fingers in a classic 'gimme' way but I just stared blankly at him.

“I have no intention of him having to actually use the gun if it can be helped. However, if it can't then I need you all to know how to use a gun and I need the gun to be in the hands of the one with the most accuracy. If you need to use the gun there won't be time for fuck ups. Do you understand?” He opened and closed his mouth five times like he was going to say something but his voice had failed him. “Good.” I said as I looked around at their faces. V's eyes were already looking at the gun clasped between my hands around Jungkook's, which is probably what he was really staring at. “All of you watch very closely.” I glanced back to Jungkook and he swallowed hard but nodded briskly to say he was ready.

“There are five rules to handling a gun. Remember them, they might keep you alive. One, treat your gun as if it is always loaded.”

“This gun is loaded, right?”

“Correct.” His eyes widened a little but he nodded and I continued. “Two, never point your gun at anything you aren't willing to shoot. Three, keep, your safety on until you're ready to shoot.” I said as I moved his thumb up with my own to flick the safety from green to red. “Green means good, red your dead. If the green dot shows and you go to shoot, no matter how well you aimed, it will not go off. You won't even be able to squeeze down on the trigger.” He nodded and I lifted his hand with the gun in it to point at my chest. “Four, Keep your finger outside the trigger guard until you're ready to shoot.” With that I moved his finger into the guard to the chorus of gasps and muttered curses. His heart pounded at his ribs like a caged animal, his eyes wide, breath coming fast. Jimin was speaking in rapid, panicked Korean in the background.

“What are you doing?” Kookie's voice was squeezed out in a tight whisper like he was afraid the gun might go off if he spoke too loud.

“You should know what it feels like to point a gun at something you should be willing to kill.” He shook his head and I knew he was going to try and pull away, so I closed my hand around his tightly, digging the grip of the gun into the palm of his hand and his eyes flashed white as he leaned forward in panic.

“Are you insane? You could have made me accidentally shoot you by doing that. This gun is loaded!” He nearly shouted only six inches from my face. 

“Yes, it is. So don't fuck up.” He was pale with a light sheen of sweat coating his usually tan skin. “Guns don't go off by themselves, Jungkook. Don't be afraid of the gun, be afraid of the person on either side of it.” He swallowed hard and looked incredibly unhappy as he ground out his question.

“What's the last rule?” I smiled slightly and nodded. His perseverance was admirable. 

“Count your bullets. Even one could be the difference between life and death. This gun holds eight, but it's currently holding nine because I carry one in the chamber at all times.” He licked his lips as he glanced down at the gun then stared nervously at me. I shrugged and let go of him to sit back on my heels. “That's pretty much it.” I watched his nervousness fold away and his arm got steadier. He kept staring at me down the line of his gun that had shifted to stay with me as I had moved. I smiled, impressed by how quickly he caught on. 

“Jungkook-ah-” Hoseok cautiously whispered from right behind him as he very gingerly placed his hand on the younger man's shoulder, eyes locked on the maknae's face. I watched him search that pretty face and saw the fear flash through his eyes. Yes, Jungkook had taken to the gun quite fast. It was impressive to me but I knew all of them would be staring at the young man the same as Hobi. 

“Are you going to shoot me, Jungkook?” He swallowed hard but his face looked calm even if I saw the uncertainty in his eyes. “You could if you wanted to. You're the one with the gun.” I watched a hundred different things flit through those so reflective eyes before his hand shifted slightly. Yoongi made some sound of surprise that was followed by several others as they thought Jungkook was moving to take the shot. I smiled as I watched him flick the safety back on and take his finger out of the guard before he sat straighter and tucked the gun into the waistband of his jeans, almost all in one motion. I watched him as he slid back onto the seat, staring at me as he put his headphones back in one by one. 

“Drive, Jin.” I said after a few minutes. The oldest got behind the wheel without a word and began navigating traffic again. He put music on and turned it up in an attempt to cover the tension in the car. I sat on that floor and stared back at Jungkook, who seemed to be entirely too focused on me, for the duration of the ride. His eyes wavered from me only twice, both times were in attempt to discern where we were. I felt the glare of Namjoon but I ignored it.

The second the van began slowing to come to a stop Namjoon opened the sliding door and hopped out to Jin's great distress. Jungkook broke the staring contest and slid out after his leader. They all filed out and into the house. All except Yoongi. 

“You're sure you want it to go down this way?” I stopped my automatic weapons check and nodded as I pulled the thin metal case holding my hand rolled smokes, flipping it open and palming one. I looked up to find Yoongi staring at me as I lit the thing and sat down cross legged on the ground. 

“Your calmness is deceptively comforting.” I smiled, smoke trailing from my mouth. 

“It's about time for you to head inside, Yoongi.” He stared at me for a long minute before nodding. 

“Arraseo. But I have some questions to ask you when you're...done.” I smiled at him and nodded.

“I may have some answers.” He smiled and shook his head as he took a step backwards towards the house. 

“You're insane but...” He threw his fist in the air as he turned around and began walking away, pumping it several times as he said, “Fighting!” I smiled and waited for him to enter the house before laying back on the grass to stare up at the stars, waiting. I didn't have to wait long.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N- Alright, so I think my favorite scene to write out of this chapter was where the assassin taught Kookie basic gun safety. Idk, something about it was just very intriguing to me. Let me know what you think. Ta-ta for now, luvs!


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N- I sincerely apologize for leaving you all waiting for this update for so very long. Mianhe, luvs! I do hope you enjoy this chapter though. It took me quite some time to both write and edit it with the maelstrom of shit life has slung at me as of late. Without further ado, I welcome you back. ^-^
> 
> DISCLAIMER- Graphic violence and sexual content, vulgar language and descriptions, rated M for a reason. I own my imagination alone, not the men or any labels attached to them within (tragically).

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Yoongi's POV

 

I closed the door and leaned against it for a second. She was either incredibly brave or incredibly stupid. I couldn't decide which just yet, but there was a thin line between both, it was easy to fall one way or the other. 

“Are you going to help?” Hobi grunted out as he dragged the heavy dining room table towards the door I leaned on. Jungkook came up beside him and the table was suddenly moving fast enough that I had to move or be flattened. I began assessing which exits were most important and deemed the couch a suitable enough barricade for the window if I could rig it right. Ten minutes later we were huddled in the corner of the living room, at my suggestion. It was the most central room, giving us the best reaction time possible if they made it in. Jin suddenly ran to the kitchen with Rapmon yelling after him to come back. I cursed, listening to the sounds of banging coming from where Jin had disappeared, then Jin was there handing us all knives, keeping a mallet for himself. Something hit the front door with a loud grunt of pain that we heard from where we stood. I closed my eyes and eased into a crouch. What was she thinking? I saw in my head once again the way she'd fixed herself in the car on the way to practice. 

She searched through the bags, finally finding hers. I watched as she shuffled through it and plucked out an emergency first aid kit that had probably taken up most of the room in the bag. Then she gathered a change of clothes and proceeded to strip. I averted my eyes but couldn't help but to look back. She was sitting in her underwear, hissing quietly as she cut away the blood soaked bandage around her waist. She poured alcohol on a gauze pad until it was dripping before cleaning the wounds across her stomach. My stomach contracted hard at the pain she must be in, but she never flinched. She must have been so engrossed in what she was doing that she didn't notice me watching her. I grimaced in sympathetic pain as she began stitching herself up. Her breath came a bit faster and she ground her teeth but other than swearing harshly a few times she never made a sound. Then when she got to the juncture of slashes a little up and to the right of her navel she gasped, head dropping back on her spine as she took several deep breaths.

“Fucking hell...” She gasped out. With her head back the moonlight made her glow. She was incredibly pale, unbelievably so, with a fine sheen of sweat coating her body. I watched as she stitched up wound after wound, bandaging them and the rest that didn't need stitches. Finally, she just flopped back against the bags. She was shivering, probably from the pain she'd just endured, and a pang of sympathy and guilt swept through me. Sympathy? For an assassin...what was this? A K-drama? A few minutes later she sat up slowly and with trembling hands began dressing. I leaned my head back and closed my eyes, pretending that I hadn't just watched something I knew she hadn't wanted me to see. 

I shook off the memory but the sight of all those bruises, cuts, scrapes and scars as the only color on all that colorless flesh stuck with me as I heard the faint sounds of combat. It sounded as if they had gotten closer. I stood from my crouch and began walking towards the kitchen.

“Yoongi!” “Hyung!” They called after me. 

I ignored them and crouched next to the window looking out into the clearing around the house through a small gap. I saw her fighting against three people at once. All that showed she had drawn her weapon was a brief glint of light along the sword followed by an explosion of ash. She swept through them until one man stepped forward. She backed up a step and my heart fluttered. Well, that was never a good sign. I heard the bass of his voice but not the words, then I don't know how to explain what happened. 

She was suddenly flying towards the house. I threw myself backwards as she crashed through the window and hit the table hard enough to not only knock it down but also to fly into the room. She groaned as she got to her feet staring into the living room for a moment. She smiled a brief, savage baring of teeth stained with the red of her own blood, then drew the gun at her side before turning around and running back through the window. I saw blood soaking her clothes once more and was suddenly terrified that she would die. If she died, surely so would we. 

My heart skipped as I clamored on all fours to crouch by the window, head peeking up just enough to see. I whipped my head around as a hand clapped down on my shoulder. Jungkook crouched beside me, eyes wide, breath coming fast as he looked into my face from less than a foot away. We stared at each other for a heartbeat in shared fear before he flicked his eyes to what was happening. I had no warning other than the widening of his eyes and a sharp gasp. Suddenly he yanked me to the floor, throwing his body on top of mine as something was slammed into the bricks beside the window hard enough that I heard them crumble under the tremendous force. My head jerked up at the explosive pain sound accompanying the crumble of brick. The assassin was being pinned to the brick by her throat by the sinister looking man. He was only inches shorter than her from the little glimpse I'd caught only moments ago so the fact that she appeared to be over a foot taller than him meant he was holding her off the ground. He hissed words at her that were spoken in a language I thought sounded German. She moved like she was trying to kick him and he smiled as he casually dodged her, shaking his head. A gunshot sounded and I watched that smug smile dim until it was gone as he staggered back. She fell to her knees, quickly standing and coughing with a hand to her throat as she raised her gun again to point it squarely at his face. He clutched his hand to the heart shot she'd delivered, eyes as wide as his bloody smile. He said something in German before speaking in thickly accented English.

“You cheated.” She laughed abruptly and shook her head very slightly.

“Nothing that keeps you alive is cheating. You taught me that.” He coughed and spit a mouthful of blood on the ground. He was unsteady but still stood on his feet. He grimaced as his eyes flicked towards the gun in her hand before going back to her face. 

“So, after all my tutelage this is what you've reduced yourself to. Hiding behind cowardice.” He shook his head and I could hear the humor in her words as she spoke. 

“You never did like guns.” He spat on the ground at that and glared at her. 

“There is no honor to those damn hand canons. The world would have been better off without the discovery of gunpowder.” She nodded slightly. 

“Ama.” he frowned at her and cocked his head. Why did it look like he was getting better?

“I didn't believe it. Not until now.”

“Believe what?” He nodded his head towards the house.

“That you were defending them.” He squared his shoulders, arm falling back to his side, hand still dripping blood from his wound. She stiffened visibly as if preparing for an attack.

“That's what I was hired to do. But why are you here? After all these years why reveal yourself now? What is so special about these boys that you of all people have stepped out of the shadows again?” He shook his head. 

“I have no quarrel with you, mein schatzi (my little treasure).” I jumped as the gun suddenly went off again. He grumbled a vicious string of German under his breath as he fell to one knee, hands clutching at the other, now wounded thigh. 

“Nein (no)! You don't get to call me that. Just tell me why?” He grunted in pain as he shoved himself to his feet, a very slight and sad smile on his face.

“Just move aside. Please. I don't want to have to do this, but you don't know...” He stopped and shook his head. “Move.”

“Nein.” She readied herself and he sighed.

“I will kill them or I will kill you. I would prefer the former over the latter.”

“Kill me then, if you can.” He looked at her then, face blank as he took in her stance. “We were always going to meet in battle one day. It was fated.”

“Quoting my own words back to me. Your memory is as astounding as your bravery. Though both were always impressive.”

“Flattering me won't change the situation.”

“Nein. But neither will that hand cannon of yours.”

“We'll see.” He sighed. 

“You do not know that of which you fight for and yet your stubborn nature will not permit you to bend to reason.”

“Then stop this and we can go have a drink, like we used to, while you tell me what is so important that would call for all of this.” 

“You will not move, will you?” She was quiet for a moment. 

“No.” Her voice was absent of any emotion, those two letters filled with nothing but absolute sincerity. I shivered hearing how cold those words were.

“So stubborn.” He almost sounded fond of her. “Drop that thing-” he gestured with his bloody hand towards the gun in her hand “and we'll fight as it was meant to be.” 

“Don't do this. Just stop.” He shook his head and fell into a fighting stance. 

“Ready yourself.” She stared at him for a moment before dipping her head only once to acknowledge him as she holstered her gun. 

“May the loser between us meet Odin with honor.” I had only caught fragments of their entire conversation but the mention of the old Norse god Odin made me frown. 

“Odin?” I whispered to myself. One second they were stationary and then they were off. The two of them fought in a spectacular whirl of limbs and grunts of pain. They were vicious, there moves so quick it was incredibly difficult to follow everything that happened. The man suddenly flew in a blur, hitting the wall beside the window as she had earlier. The assassin was without mercy as the sword she'd used so skillfully earlier had somehow found its way back into her hand and now into the chest of the mystery man she fought now. She ripped the sword free and jumped backwards out of reach as he fell to his knees, spluttering blood everywhere as he did. He laughed and shook his head. 

“I would have figured with how prominently you favor hand cannons that your swordsmanship might be lacking.” He laughed again and went into a coughing fit. “I was wrong.” His words held pride even if I couldn't understand them all. She shook her head as his blood dripped from the blade in her hand. 

“Unlike you I have always seen the merit in knowing the functionality and usefulness of many weapons. But I have always favored the sword.”

“Like me.” She nodded, face grim as she spoke the next words. 

“This could end here.” He nodded. 

“And so it will. End it.” I thought for a moment that I saw her shoulders round a little at that. He saw it too because he made a small sound of frustration. “Fine. I will make you then.” Jungkook knew it was going to happen a second faster than I did as he once again shoved his body before mine just as the mystery man would have reached me and snatched me out of the window. My hands that had tried to pull him towards me were suddenly empty as he was snatched through the window into the man's arms. I screamed as the man grabbed a handful of Jungkook's hair and yanked his head to the side. He paused as he spoke with his face buried in Jungkook's neck. 

“You will have to kill me, mein schatzi. There is no other choice.” I'm not quite sure what happened but the assassin was suddenly right in front of the man, sword sticking out on both sides like an exclamation point. Jungkook was several feet away on the ground, hand to his neck as he stared wide eyed at the scene before him.

“I gave you another choice. You pushed this on us both.” He grabbed her hands and jerked the sword further into himself as he pulled her closer. I was stunned as he wrapped his arms around her shoulders in a hug. He said something in German in her ear, voice thick with the blood leaking from his mouth. She flinched and yanked away from him, tearing the sword free in the process. She was breathing hard as she stared down at him. 

“Your skills warm my heart with pride. Thank you for that.” He bowed his head for a moment as he coughed up blood before continuing. “Finish it.” She shook her head.

“You could help me. I don't have to kill you.”

“Finish it.” He repeated. 

“Don't make me do this, Adelais.” His eyes closed and he tipped his head back, a small smile crawling across his blood covered lips.

“I can die happy by your hands having heard you speak my true name once more after so very long.” She shook her head,

“I will not kill you.” His eyes flared open. 

“You must.”

“WHY?” She shouted. I jumped so hard I fell on my ass at the sudden outburst. 

“I will kill them if you do not.”

“Why, Adelais? Why must you kill them?” He grinned.

“I would kill them for you.” She frowned and shook her head. 

“I don't understand.”

“Not now, but you will. Solve this puzzle quickly, before it ends you all.”

“Help me.” 

“Nein. I cannot. You will not let me.” She spluttered for a moment in confusion. “I will watch over you from Odin's ranks...mein schatz.” His eyes flicked towards me on the ground only a handful of feet away. I don't even remember having gone through the window but I must have. It was probably when Jungkook was snatched away. 

“Adelais...” He moved to come toward me. “Don't !” I heard her scream at him but still he came. I flinched and scrambled away as a spray of blood arced across my face. His body hit the ground and only then did his head detach, his blood pouring into the grass beneath him. I blinked in fear at the sight she painted: sword straight out, an extension of her arm, blood dripping from the blade. Her body was bent, legs cocked in a fighting posture, head bowed. She looked like a true warrior unlike anything from this day and age. I watched as she stood, head still bowed until she began turning around. She locked eyes on the corpse before her, impaling the ground with her sword as she crouched beside him. She stared at him for a long few minutes. 

“Dammit...dammit, Adelais. Gods damn it all!” She almost shouted the last as she bowed her head over him and fell to her knees, placing a hand on his chest. She spoke in German, something that sounded like a prayer. I watched open-mouthed as she gently rolled his body over,, folding his hands across his chest then picking his head up and placing it as best she could back where it should be before she unbuttoned her shirt. I wanted to ask what she was doing but then she slipped the shirt from underneath her weapons rigs and used it to cover as much of him with it from the head down as she could. We all stared at the way the shirt tented over his body. Even with the cloth as a barrier you could tell something was not quite right with the location of the head. I jumped slightly as she walked over to the both of us. Jungkook had gotten very close to me at some point. She stopped just in front of us and stared cooly at us both. 

“I told you to barricade and hide.” I swallowed hard, not having any words to defend myself with for one of probably only three times in my life. She sighed and looked up to the sky. “Yoongi.” I jumped again. 

“Ye.”

“Go to Jimin. He needs you right now.” Without a word I began going towards the window. I was about to go through when suddenly she was beside me, arm out like a bar across my chest. She grabbed my hand and flipped it palm up so I could see the blood trickling across it. Jimin made a small sound and I looked up to only then see them all huddled together on the other side of Rapmon who was acting as a human barrier between them and everything outside the window. She looked up at Rapmon and spoke. 

“Make sure to get all the glass out of his wound and bandage it well, Jimin.” Rapmon cocked his head at having been the object of her attention but not her words. She lifted her leg and stomped her foot on the sill, swiping it across the jagged pieces of glass sticking out so that the frame was suddenly smooth and easily passable. Rapmon stepped to the side at the same time as the assassin and Jimin was suddenly helping me through the window. I numbly let him lead me away.

 

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Assassin's POV 

I watched Yoongi crawl weakly over the window sill with Jimin's help. Namjoon watched them disappear before instructing the rest of them to replace all furniture and objects that had been used to barricade back where they were. He turned to face me and I nodded at him. 

“Goma woyo.”

“Wae?”

“I know you were the only reason they all didn't come out here like Yoongi.” He had physically forced them all to stay inside, acting as a fleshy wall between them and my conflict outside. 

“You looked like you had quite enough to worry about. They would only have distracted you.” I nodded, feeling a new respect for him well within me. 

“Keep an eye on Yoongi, he's in shock. Get him warm and hydrated.” I turned away from him to look at Jungkook who stood there watching my exchange. I was about to move towards him when Namjoon lightly grabbed my wrist. I looked down at his hand then at him, stretched halfway through the open window. His eyes were cataloging my new wounds along with the old bandages. 

“What will you do about your wounds?” It almost sounded like he was offering me help. I smiled and gently pulled free of his grip. 

“I'll care for them of course.” I spoke as I walked towards Jungkook.

“And Jungkook? Why haven't you dismissed him?”

“Because I have something to discuss with him.” I stopped in front of the man in question, turning just enough to flash Namjoon what I hoped was a reassuring smile. “I will not let anything bad happen to him. I promise.” He stared at me for a moment while he thought it over before turning away and moving further into the house. The second no one was watching I grabbed Kookie's arm and hauled him onto my back, running us at vampire speed to the very edge of the woods. I dropped to one knee, my strength faltering. I suppressed the need to pant as Kookie quickly escaped my touch, ranting in Korean softly to himself.

“What are you doing, Widow?” I chuckled at the absurd nick name and shook my head. 

“Take your shirt and pants off.” 

“M-mwo?” I laughed and looked up at him.

“You heard me.”

“But...why?” I pointed to the growing blood stains on his clothes.

“When you were pulled through the window you were cut by the broken glass.”

“Oh...and?” I smiled as he glanced down at the blood and shrugged it off. 

“And I will heal you.” He raised a skeptical eyebrow. 

“How? You have to be absolutely exhausted by now.”

“The reserves of my strength are nearly boundless, Jungkook.” The words sounded strong by definition but my weariness was there just beneath belying them. He didn't miss that but he did as I'd asked. I sighed in relief and stood slowly as he stood before me in briefs alone. We had both seen each other in less and yet this time he was embarrassed, cheeks flushing a dull red as his breath came faster. I stood very close to him, looking slightly up at him with a small smile.

“Don't worry, it won't hurt.” That was what I was afraid of.

“I am not worried.” He shivered before standing straighter.

“Just cold.” He said nothing and I nodded. “Ye. I'll move it along then.” I circled around behind him to the back. 

“What are you going to do.” I smiled as I collected some of my blood leaking from my still bleeding wounds. 

“I'm sure you'll figure it out once I begin.” He rotated his upper body slightly so he could see what I was doing and I smiled as I played my fingers along the bloody edges of the slash across my chest, coating my fingers in my own blood and smearing it along his wounds. Some of it was fairly deep, namely the one cutting across his back up across to his ribs. I wasn't aware of how my blood was effecting him until he slumped slightly and I looked up to find his eyes closed, mouth parted. His breath was coming faster and I could hear his heart racing. Oh shit. My eyes widened as the scent of his desire kicked me in the gut. My muscles tensed and my fangs began lengthening. The hunger pang as a result of all the action and blood loss was so sharp it tore a sharp gasp from me, my heart beating against my ribs like it was trying to escape. 

“Shit...” I breathed out, standing from where I'd been observing his wound all too close to his skin. The urge to bite him was only intensified by the scent of his already spilled blood. I swallowed hard and simply drew my knife. His eyes flinched but he otherwise did not move, as if he trusted me implicitly enough to know I wasn't going to hurt him. I just couldn't fathom why he trusted me so much. I drew the blade across my palm sharply and just poured my blood on him to speed the process along before I really did pull all that muscle close to me and sink my fangs. I closed my eyes so I wouldn't see the sun-kissed, tan skin beneath the blood. Shit shit shit shit shit. I pulled away and pointed in the direction of the house.

“Go.” He turned and looked at me. My stomach clenched so hard and fast at the sight of him standing in just his briefs, clothes forgotten on the ground where he'd dropped them. 

The blood on his skin, his dark hair damp with sweat. I stared at the way the moon defined the lines of his body and ridges of his muscles, yet failed in whitewashing the golden tan of his sun-washed skin. And the painfully apparent erection he was sporting just made it so much worse. He looked amazing, despite the blood. I didn't mean to, my body just moved without thought and I was suddenly close enough to touch him. I reached my hands out to trail my fingers down his abs, tickling lightly over the sharpness of the V that dipped below the underwear. I jumped when his fingers wrapped around mine, stopping my fingers that may or may not have been about to slip into his underwear to follow the lines of muscle. I looked up at him to find his eyes wide, breath coming fast. He lifted my hands in his as he stepped closer, letting my right hand go as he trailed two of his fingers down the length of my fangs that his eyes were locked on. My breath shook as it came out on a soft sigh that threatened to turn to a grunt of pain at the end as my stomach cramped hard enough that it almost doubled me over. Jungkook's eyes had missed nothing. 

He wrapped his left arm around my waist so that we were pressed together from thigh to chest before lifting me and sliding his right hand down the outside of my hip and thigh, yanking my leg up on his hip. I bit my lip and let him do the same to the other leg so that my thighs were suddenly wrapped around his hips and locked at the ankle, his hands gripping my ass to support me. Our bodies were as close as they could get with clothes on, not that either of us was really completely dressed. I wrapped my left arm around his shoulder, threading the fingers of my right hand through his damp hair until I had a handful of it. His eyes were locked on my face as I did all of this, at least until I tightened my hand in his hair. His eyes fluttered shut and he shivered for me. I could feel the hard length of his cock pressing right where it would go if the clothes weren't there and it was my turn to shiver as my control wavered. I rolled my hips against him as I pulled his head back so that I could lick up the length of his neck.

“Oh fuck...” His gasped words turning into a moan, hands tightening on my ass as I slowly rolled my body against his. He cried out as he fell to his knees, thrusting our bodies closer together. He shook his head as he let it drop, hands suddenly gripping my hips with a determined viciousness. 

“Haji-...Fuck...Widow...hajima...” I heard his words forced out between pants but I had no ability to control myself. I nipped his skin with my fangs, drawing the slightest bit of blood. He moaned and dropped his head against my shoulder. I ran my hands along the blood-slicked muscles of his back and he shivered again. My whole body burned for him, my fangs throbbing with the need to sink into the tawny flesh before me. He moaned and I realized I had sank my nails into his back trying to fend off my hunger. The part of my brain that kept me from doing stupid shit was folding under my desire for him. I licked at the small nick I'd made on his neck until he was panting and the wound completely closed. His hands moved up my back from where they'd been gripping my ass. I growled when he slid his hand under my braid and into my hair, pulling oh so gently. His heart stuttered then beat triple time to catch up at my growl. I shivered, trying to fight back against my hunger. I moaned loudly as he pulled my head back using his grip in my hair. His lips were feather soft, but hot as they trailed up my neck to my jaw where he ghosted them across, stopping just shy of my mouth. I could feel his scalding hot breath against my mouth and wanted the kiss we were both fighting. I opened my eyes to stare at him from centimeters away and he gasped. I knew my eyes would be glowing with the maelstrom of power swirling through me. 

“Oh...god...” I tasted his words that fell from his mouth on a shuddering breath. I'm not sure why that was the last straw but I moaned softly as what little restraint I had left snapped and I claimed his lips with my own, swallowing his surprised gasp. I felt the world shift a second before my back slammed into the ground, his body fluidly rolling against mine with the motion of it. I broke the kiss and gasped for air while Jungkook's mouth found it's way to my neck again. His teeth clamped down around a mouthful of my flesh and I arched my back for him, raking my nails down his back. The vibration of his moan along my throat drove me wild, my body rolling sinuously against his, operating independently from my conscious mind at this moment. 

A choked sound came from me, eyes rolling as I felt his teeth break skin. Neither of us had realized until that moment how hard he'd been biting me and it startled him more than me. His body stilled against mine for a second, everything, including his heart beat, stilled for a brief moment before I felt his mouth latch onto the fresh wound he'd made, teeth digging in sharply. Feeling the liquid heat of his mouth pull my essence into him was almost too much. I cried out at the same time that he moaned. His arms wound under me and pulled me crushingly close to him as he fed at my neck like a man dying of thirst who had found the last drink of water. I felt his body tensing as he moved against me, heard the stirrings of his orgasm in the throaty sounds he was making. 

“Jung-...” I swallowed hard, gasping as he dug his teeth in more at my protest. “Stop...” I gasped out. I remembered only just then that humans could only stomach so much blood before they threw up. “Kook...hajima...haji-...oh fuck...” He let out a long throaty moan as he broke free of my throat, throwing his head back as his body convulsed on top of me. I threaded my fingers into his sweat soaked hair and pulled his mouth coated with my blood down to my own. I swallowed his cries of release as I licked my blood from his mouth until he tore away from me to take a screaming inhale that came out in one final, ragged shout. He fell limp on top of me, his muscles quivering, the both of us panting. I held him close for a minute, feeling the bass of his heart pound through me just above mine. The smell of him was everywhere and I shook with the need to bite him, to rip away every barrier between us and fuck him into the ground. I rolled him over quickly and was gone, running from tree to tree on wobbly legs as fast as I could.

 

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

Jungkook's POV

I lay there where she'd left me, panting. All I could smell was her, the thick, robust flavor of her coated my mouth and throat. The phantom feeling of her body against mine haunted me, long after the ecstasy of my release faded. I don't know how long I lay there but I finally got the strength to haul myself into a sitting position with a groan. The world swam as I moved and I giggled, my body feeling heavy yet hollow, like a lead cookie cutter. I staggered to my feet just to go crashing to my knees again. I caught myself with both hands before I did a face plant in the debris beneath me. 

“Oh fuck...” I groaned before laughing. I felt amazing. The warmth radiating from my stomach and the newly oiled feel of my joints and muscles felt indescribable. I felt like I could do anything. The second time I pushed myself to my feet I wobbled but stayed upright. If this was what it felt like to have ingested just a small amount of her blood, what must it feel like to be a vampire? I giggled at the line of thought and told myself I would ask her that later. I leaned against the nearest tree to pull on my pants and laughed until I cried when I discovered the erection that hadn't dissipated with my release. 

“Well fuck...” Vampire blood would put Viagra out of business if the public ever learned of them. Vampire blood? I fell still and lifted my hand to place the back of It gently against my lips, finding the tacky remains of my unpredictable venture. I wiped the blood away then used my shirt to scrub at my lips. Why had I done that? I tried to remember what the hell I had been thinking, or if there was even thought involved at all. I remembered the urge to bite her after hearing her reaction to a little teeth. But where was the rational side of my brain that should have told me to stop? I sucked in a huge breath of air, blowing it into the sky. I really just bit and drank the assassin's blood. What...the...fuck. What was wrong with me? I shook my head hard, trying to shake free of what I had just done. 

I finally began stumbling back to the house as I pulled the slightly blood stained shirt back on. The thought of what any of the other members would say when they saw me never occurred to me until I opened the door and walked into the kitchen. I cursed silently and hoped like hell they had all gone to bed by now. The water sounded loud as I leaned down, cupping my hands under the cool flow of it to begin washing my face. I heard him clear as day and knew when I stood up that someone would be standing in the doorway watching me. I ignored him and reached for the roll of paper towels. When I was finished wiping my face I stood and stared back at Yoongi, who had his arms crossed and was calmly staring at me as he leaned against the door jamb. 

“What's up, Suga-hyung?” He raised an eyebrow at me and slowly walked towards me, stopping about a foot back and reaching up. I swallowed as he pulled a couple leaves and a twig from my hair, looking first down at the debris then up at me. I smiled and shrugged. 

“What mischief have you been up to, Jungkookie?” I had no idea how to answer that so I decided to offer him a series of partial truths. 

“Widow and I chatted for a bit.” One of his eyebrows slowly raised and I knew he didn't believe me. 

“And you got dirt in your hair from that?” I shrugged casually. 

“It was a long chat. She was tired from the fight so we laid down.” Not a complete lie since none of that would have happened if she hadn't been exhausted from the fight. And we did talk, at one point, and lay down...in a manner of speaking. 

“You're better at lying than this, Jungkook-ah.” His voice sounded bland as he turned away. I watched his back until it disappeared back through the doorway. I knew he didn't believe me but he was probably the only one of my hyungs that would have done what he just did. There was more than one reason why Yoongi was one of my favorite hyungs to talk to. He could take a hint. Most of the time. I limped up the stairs and was almost to the bathroom.

“So, what did you and the assassin talk about?” I sighed, stopping in place and closing my eyes. 

“Must you hate her so strongly?” He was quiet for a moment while I listened to the soft sounds of him padding toward me. 

“Why must you be so fond of her? How can you, I should say?” I shrugged and opened my eyes to find him standing in the middle of the hallway blocking my path to the bathroom. “You have no idea who she is.”

“And at one time I could say the same about you.” The deep frown furrowing his brows almost made me smile. 

“This isn't even close to the same situation.” I shrugged.

“Different situation, same concept.”

“No. It's not, Kookie.” I stared right into his eyes and showed him my anger at his actions.

“I know you watched what happened tonight, but did you actually see it?”

“Yeah. I saw it.”

“What? What do you think you saw, hyung?” His eyes widened but his lips thinned out as he pressed them tightly together. 

“I saw a nameless woman who's deluded my friends, my family, into trusting her cut down a man she obviously had history with for money.” I paused at that, jaw falling open. 

I stared open mouthed at him like that while images flashed through my mind. I saw the recognition on her face while fighting him, the plea in her eyes when she asked him to stop and talk. I didn't think I'd ever forget the pain of loss on her face as she knelt beside him and took the shirt off her own back to cover him. The hollow sound of her voice as she sent up a prayer for the man she'd killed that she'd obviously not only respected but valued too would haunt me. 

“I don't know whether you're being intentionally arrogant or ignorant.” His mouth fell open and his eyes widened as he sputtered for a second.

“Where are your manners?”

“Where are yours? Why are you so blinded by your hatred that you can't see what is right in front of your face?”

“I never said I hated her, and you are-”

“Not finished.” I cut him off while completing his sentence. “You fear her, so you hate her.” Rap Mon was silent for a moment, staring at me with his lips pursed. 

“I don't hate her. I just don't trust her. You shouldn't either.” He put his hands on his head and dipped his head for a few heartbeats before finishing. “And yes, I'm scared. How many people...things, has she killed in just the two weeks she's been here already. What more evidence do you need to prove how dangerous she is?”

“What's so dangerous about her? She's helping us, risking her body and life for us. And you can't even give her at least respect?” I shook my head and he scoffed loudly.

“Now who is the one being naive? Do you think you can slake some sort of curiosity by building a relationship with her? Do you think this is like one of your games? There is no save point you can retry from, Jungkook!” I blinked, a small smile creeping onto my face. 

“Of course it's a game. Life is the ultimate game that you can only play once. Or so I used to think.” Rapmon looked flabbergasted. 

“Are you fucking kidding me? What the fuck are you even talking about right now? 'The Ultimate game'?” I frowned at his dramatic air quotes. “Shut the hell up you romantic jerk.” I raised my eyebrows at that. 

“It's late and I want to shower. Can you just do me a favor? If you can't respect her at least respect the fact that that woman killed a friend today to defend us.”

“If she does that to 'friends' for money, what would she do to enemies do you think?” I ground my teeth and began walking past him. He grabbed my upper arm, pulling me to a stop. I glared at him as he leaned in to speak inches from my face. “Stop being a fool and trying to romanticize this like one of your video games. She is an assassin, Jungkook. If you think for one second that she'd turn down the chance to kill us if her contract turns against us you're deceiving yourself.” I pulled my arm out of his grasp as I turned away and began walking to the bathroom. “She's done it once already.” I shook my head and turned into the bathroom.

“Don't trust her, Jungkook. You'll regret it.” He called as I closed the door. 

 

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

Assassin's POV

I stumbled back from my hunt, stomach still cramped with hunger, wounds no longer bleeding but raw and sore. I stumbled mid-step as my vision blurred with the force of a hunger pang and fell to my hands and knees. I sighed and let myself fall flat on my stomach, just laying there. I hadn't been laying there for long when the door opened to the house and I heard someone running over to me. 

“Assassin?” He called as he rolled me over without hesitation. Yoongi was crouched beside me barefoot in only a thin white T-shirt and sweat pants. “Holy shit.” He whispered, eyes on my mouth where my fangs peeked over my bottom lip. I rolled away, coming to my knees with a soft groan as I felt one of the wounds across my stomach open again. Yoongi was frozen at the corner of my eye, staring at me.

“Holy shit.” He repeated. He said it softly to himself a couple of times as I hauled myself to my feet. I stumbled back a step and clutched my hand to the juncture of slash wounds on my my stomach. The bandaging was wet so I knew most of my wounds must have opened again. 

“Don't worry about me, Yoongi. I'm used to it. It's one of the downsides of my job.” He stayed crouched, eyes following me as I went inside, leaving him out there. 

“Shit-” I breathed out as I tripped over the slightest shift in floor elevation, falling to my hands and knees again. “Dammit!” I smacked my palm into the floor in frustration. He gripped both of my arms just under the shoulder and lifted me to my feet. I blinked at him in surprise as he put my arm around his shoulders, his hands curling around my waist and wrist for extra support. My body was against his from shoulder to thigh. I stared at him, wishing I had the ground to stand on to deny needing such help as we walked through the first floor towards the stairs. He smelled really good and I realized at the bottom of the stairs that I'd done nothing but stare at him since he'd touched me. I stopped cooperating with his movements to pull me forward and he looked at me, both of us coming to a stand still. Until that point I hadn't really heard what was going on upstairs, but now I heard Jungkook and Namjoon talking. 

“She's an assassin, Jungkook. If you think for one second that she'd turn down the chance to kill us if her contract turns against us you're deceiving yourself. She's done it once already.” Jungkook made a noise of disbelief, or maybe distaste...at this point I knew I wasn't in the right condition to judge. He began moving down the hallway. “Don't trust her, Jungkook. You'll regret it.” Namjoon called after the maknae as I heard the bathroom door click. I stood there in silence, feeling Yoongi staring at me like he was waiting for me to be offended, or maybe even hurt by what I had overheard. I stepped back off the bottom stair and shrugged off Yoongi's touch to begin slowly making my way back to the kitchen. 

“What are you doing?”

“Bathroom is occupado, mate. Jungkook just went in.” I was trying really hard not to lisp around my fangs.

“How do you know?” I cursed softly under my breath. 

“I know you just heard him go in the bathroom.”

“No. I didn't. I heard a door shut. How did you know it was the bathroom door? It could have been any of them.” I cursed again but pointed up at the ceiling.

“Listen.” The sounds of the shower running were loud enough that I know he heard it at least faintly. I swore as I fell into one of the chairs around the table. He watched me for a few minutes before he began looking in the cabinet under the sink. I frowned when he pulled out a giant blue first aide bag and a bottle of alcohol. He came over and placed them on the table, rooting through the bag and pulling out tools. Needle, thread, saline water, bandages, scissors, gauze, ace bandages, what looked like long tweezers, antiseptic cream, tape, even a tiny metal tray to place the instruments. I was amazed at the thorough set up as I watched him scrub his hands with medical strength anti-bacterial soap. He patted his hands dry and came over to crouch in front of me. 

“Let me look at your wounds.” I raised an eyebrow. 

“Shouldn't you have asked that before you went through all that prep?” He shrugged. 

“I wasn't really asking.”

“Oh? And you just assumed I would do whatever you told me, is that it?” He sighed and shook his head before looking me right in my eyes.

“Just because you're a vampire that doesn't mean you can abuse yourself to this extreme. Even your body must have a limit.” I said nothing to his acknowledgment. Suddenly his eyes widened and he nervously averted them. “Vampires can fuck with people's minds with their eyes, right?” I smiled and reached for the scissors and began cutting away the old bandages. He took the scissors from me and swatted away my hands to begin doing it himself. 

“I have been doing this just fine by myself for quite some time now, Min Yoongi.” He shrugged and I shook my head, silently watching Yoongi. His hair looked incredibly soft as it swayed slightly with every movement. I licked my lips and turned my head to stare out the glass sliding door. 

“Yes.” I don't know why I said that. 

“Mwo?” He asked, having fallen completely still. I paused for a moment, licking my lips again. 

“Vampires can and will fuck with your mind, if they can.” 

“If they can?” I shrugged and ground my teeth to hide a wince. 

“Yes. Some people can resist or...hold vampires at bay, if you will.”

“Eo ddeo gae (How)?” I looked at him then only to find him intently staring at me as he attempted to thread a needle. I offered him a small smile and looked back out through the glass door. 

“I don't know. I think some people are just naturally resistant based on how strong their mind is.” He hummed an acknowledgment and began irrigating my wounds with saline water and picking debris out of them with the long tweezers. I ground my teeth and sat silently while he worked on me. A half hour later he was done stitching the group of slashes on my stomach. He sat back on his heels and stared at me while wiping his hands.

“You didn't feel the need to put on gloves. Why?” He shrugged and tossed the towel onto the table before placing his palms on his thighs. 

“You're a vampire so I assumed you don't have any communicable diseases. It's just blood.” I pursed my lips. I felt like asking him what he would do if I was a carrier for diseases but didn't. His eyes surveyed me in a quick up and down motion before he got to his feet and walked to the sink. He came back with a glass of water and a wet towel, offering me the glass. I raised an eyebrow but reached out to take it. My hand trembled as I took it and his eyes didn't miss a thing. 

“Goma woyo.” I mumbled before chugging half the contents of the glass. 

“Don't thank me yet. I'm not finished. I just thought you'd need a break.” I would have argued if I wasn't sweaty and shaking, so I just asked the question that had been bothering me. 

“How is it that someone such as yourself has so much skill with a needle? You spend a lot of time stitching people in the past?”

“Aniyo. This is my first time.” I raised an eyebrow.

“Why are you lying to me?” He looked away and rolled his head around like he was attempting to get a kink out of his neck muscles. 

“When you redressed your wounds in the back of the van this morning when we were heading to practice I...I watched you.” Both of my eyebrows raised. 

“And you learned from just that?”

“Aniyo. I watched what you did and then I did some research and learned that way.” I stared down at my neatly bandaged wound and nodded. 

“Impressive.” He bowed his head in a humble acceptance of my compliment. Somehow, he hadn't struck me as the humble type. Forty-five minutes later all my wounds, and I mean all of my wounds, were cleaned, stitched and bandaged to Yoongi's heart's content. I let him play at being a doctor, falling into a trance-like state of calm as I watched him meticulously care for me. When he sat back and stared at me his eyes were full of what I could only call determination.

“Do it to me.”

“What?” I was almost more amused than confused. Almost.

“I want you to try to fuck with my mind.” I was silent, staring into the intensity of the eyes of the man before me. 

“No.”

“I want to see if you can get into my head.” I shook my head and stood. 

“No.” He grabbed my wrist when I went to walk away. I could have pulled free but I let him stop me.

“Jusigesseoyo (Please-polite).” I stared down at him. 

“Why? Even if I can get into your head you won't remember it unless I make you.”

“And if you can't I'll know for sure that I'm safe from at least that.” I frowned and pulled my wrist out of his grasp. 

“I won't fuck with your head, Yoongi, so this little test isn't necessary.” I began to move away and he grabbed me again, but this time his head was bowed and I smelled a faint hint of fear. 

“Jebal...” His voice was soft, like he was afraid of being reprimanded, or something much worse. “I want you to try.” I sighed heavily and scrubbed my other hand across my face, pushing back the strands of hair that had fallen free of my braid. It had been a long fucking day. I found myself nodding as I stepped back and dropped into the chair before him once again. He looked up at me then, eyes wide with surprise, like he had given himself over to defeat already. 

“Arasseo. I can't pretend I understand fully why you want this but...” I sighed again and looked out the door. “I suppose if our roles were reversed I'd want to know too.” I nodded and leaned forward suddenly so that when I turned my head back our faces were inches apart. His eyes flit back and forth between mine and the racing staccato of his heart punctuated the spice of his fear. I closed my eyes and took a deep breath, tasting him. He was very scared and the primal part of me loved it, craved more, craved to taste him pouring down my throat like a thick, spiced rum. I swallowed hard and shook my head. 

“You are scared of me.” My words were thick with my own repressed urges, lisping slightly around my elongating fangs. I heard him swallow hard several times.

“It would be unwise if I weren't, considering who and what you are.” I smiled slightly and once again heard his heart spike. I opened my eyes to find him staring at my mouth before he quickly glanced up then away.

“Are you sure you want this?” I leaned into him and ran my nose lightly up his neck as I breathed him in, a very inhuman gesture meant to remind him I was just that. He tensed but his head went back slightly, heart rate and breathing spiking on level with his fear. I could smell the heat of his blood pulsing just under the surface of the soft pale skin that was oh so close. 

“Wh-” He cleared his throat before speaking and his words still came out as a whisper. “What are you doing?” I fought the urge to sink my teeth into him, shivering at hearing those words so close to my ear. 

“Shut up. Don't move. Just give me a minute.” I wanted to run my tongue up his neck and taste his skin, then mar it's flawless surface with my mark. I shivered again and Yoongi moved to get away from me. Without even thinking about it I reached over and grabbed him by the throat, pulling him back in front of me. He was gasping for air and I was choking on his terror. 

“I said...don't move.” I squeezed out in what sounded like a low growl. 

“Jebal-” I clapped my hand over his mouth and shook my head emphatically, trying to reel myself in. I looked into Yoongi's eyes just then and the abject horror and suffocating fear we both drowned in that I saw reflected there drew a deep growl like a distant roll of thunder from me. He closed his eyes and seemed to have just accepted that I may or may not bite him. 

“Widow.” I froze. 

“Go to bed, Kookie.” Suga's voice was soft and shaking. Jungkook laughed and I heard him moving towards us. Oh no. No no no no no no! I could not get sandwiched between these two. Sure enough, Jungkook stepped up behind me, pressing our bodies together from neck to knees. He slid his hands over my hips and seemed to use them as handles to pull me back against him harder. He sighed against my ear before he nuzzled my neck. 

“It's okay, Hyung. I'm not scared.” Yoongi's fear had doubled, probably more scared for Jungkook than he'd been for himself. I must have made some kind of movement towards Yoongi because Kookie's hand was suddenly buried in my hair, yanking my head back so that when he spoke I could feel his lips on my jaw. “No. Not him. Me. You focus on me.” That was it. The rational part of me snapped and the last thing I remember thinking was, 'no problem'. 

I tried to turn but he used his grip in my hair and his arm around my waist to keep me where he wanted me. Yoongi must have moved because I was suddenly bent over, half laying on the island counter with his hand in my hair holding my face against the smooth faux-marble surface. I could feel the hard length of him under his jeans against my ass where he pinned my hips between his and the counter. I squirmed a little and he thrust his hips forward so that the corner of the counter dug painfully into me. I made a small noise of pain that turned to pleasure when he pulled me up and back against him by my hair. His breathing was ragged, tickling stray locks of curls against my face and neck, as he ran his hand in a line from my belly button up to my throat. I moaned as he wrapped those long fingers around my neck, only then letting go of my hair. 

“So, do you want blood or sex? Because it seems to me that it's easy to turn you either way right now.” I swallowed hard and tried to think past the feel of him against me. My body was on fire and I honestly wasn't sure which I wanted more. “You won't answer? Fine.” I was pushed back to the counter, his hand now on the back of my neck, holding me down as his other one moved down until he grabbed my hip. He lay down on top of me, his weight making it hard to breathe. 

“I've decided for you. Don't move.” I was panting, a shiver from the husky rumble of his voice and tickle of his lips against my ear making me squirm beneath him. His weight disappeared and then the world was spinning and I was suddenly looking up at Jungkook from my back.


End file.
